All grown up
by dirao
Summary: Sequel to The Kid. Follow Rory, Jess, and Annie as they struggle to make their family work under the watchful eyes of Stars Hollow. M, all the -ahem- way. Chapter 5 is up, with a Friday Night Dinner and a visit to Chilton and Annie gracefully ducking...
1. Making plans

**Title: ** All grown up

**Summary: **Sequel to The Kid. It's almost eight years to the day when Jess Mariano returned to Stars Hollow with his younger sister in tow. Now Annie, Stars Hollow's newest golden girl, is a teenager. True to her guardians, raising this kid isn't easy. Follow Annie, Jess and Rory as they struggle to make their family work under the ever-watchful eyes of Stars Hollow

**Rating:** M. And it will be justified all the way.

**Author's note: **I just wanted to start this off by thanking (big, bold, THANKING) every reader that happened upon The Kid and stuck with it, even though sometimes it got sort of... random, I guess. Writing and posting on the fly, it happens. I have a plan for this sequel, sort of an overall plan but I'm finding where it's going chapter by chapter, so if you have any ideas, please drop by and share. I especially wanted to thank those readers who left a little note, a review, their thoughts. They help through the bumps and blank spots. Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy the sequel. Without further ado, I give you...

**ALL GROWN UP**

**CHAPTER 1 – Making Plans**

"DOULA ANNE JAMESON, where do you think you're going?" a voice asked from the kitchen.

Caught in mid-tiptoe, the sixteen-year-old froze. Busted.

"Uh... Out?" Annie attempted. She'd seen it work before.

Jess Mariano, his hair unkempt, walked out into the living room drying his hands on a dishtowel. "Try again, kid." Annie could almost smell the freshly chopped tomatoes on his fingers.

Annie sighed. "Luke's," she replied, shuffling her feet.

"But dinner's almost ready. And Rory'll be here any minute now," he reminded her.

Annie shrugged. "I know, I know, it's just that the twins said..." She looked up at Jess just as his eyes dropped in disappointment. "You know what, never mind. I can see them later. Haven't seen Rory in over a month."

Jess's eyes lit up again. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Thanks, kid. Rory'll be really happy you stayed."

Annie forced a smile. "Don't mention it." She hung her jacket back up on the coat rack. "Want me to set the table?" she asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

- - - - - - - - - -

Luke made the rounds with a coffee pot in one hand. His graying hair was covered in a baseball cap as per usual.

He stopped at a table where two lanky korean boys had taken it upon themselves to build a percussion band with the regular table toppings: Salt shakers, forks, spoons, napkin dispensers, ketchup bottles. Brian was playing the main beat with two spoons. Lee filled in with the forks on the various surfaces.

"Will you stop if I give you free coffee?" Luke asked.

Lee narrowed his eyes at Luke. "I think you're confusing us with your niece."

"Or with a Gilmore," Brian added, never stopping his beat.

"Your mother must be real proud of you," Luke muttered.

"Not today," Lee replied. "We're trying to learn how to play Cuban percussion, so she threw us out."

"Couldn't believe how un-rock-and-roll we were being," Brian volunteered. "Hence our presence in this food-dispensing establishment."

Luke sighed. "Do you want something to eat?"

"We're waiting for Annie," Brian answered.

"Well, just keep it down a bit, ok? Else Kirk will start coming in here with his ukelele," Luke warned, walking away.

"Kirk has a ukelele?" Lee asked.

Brian shrugged. Just then his cell phone rang. "It's Annie," he told his brother. "Speak," he told the phone. "U-huh. U-huh. Traitor..." Lee rolled his eyes, knowing all too well what was going on. "Ok. Will do. Bye."

"Family stuff?" Lee asked, knowingly.

Brian nodded. "Rory gets back from overseas this afternoon."

"So the plan would be..." Lee started.

Brian agreed. "Hey, Luke? We'll take you up on the free food for silence deal," they called out. Luke nodded. He motioned his pen towards a tall girl with stick-straight hair.

"Hey, guys, what can I do you for?" she asked, pushing her glasses up.

"Hey, Lynn. Didn't know you were working here this summer," Lee said.

Brian nodded. "Thought your dad hated the diner."

Lynn Forrester nodded. "He does. But he also doesn't want me to tear Seth apart limb for limb, which is exactly what would happen if I had to work over at Doose's market with my brother. And Luke was hiring, and he loves pissing off Dad, so..." She motioned to the diner with her pen. "Here I am."

Brian watched her talk with a look of concentrated infatuation. Lee kicked him under the table.

"So, how're the Chili Fries today?" Lee asked.

Lynn shrugged. "Oh, you know... Chili-ish. But I could get Cesar to make up an extra-spicy batch for you two."

"Thanks, that'd be great," Lee replied.

Brian tried to think of something smart to say but all he could come up with was, "And two cherry cokes."

Lynn smiled. "Coming right up."

Lee slumped lower into his seat. "You have great style. You know... Smooth."

"Shut up," Brian replied, sulkily. "This could all have been averted if Red had gotten here on time."

"The burdens of befriending a girl with complex family history."

"Yeah."

"Well, you can always kill her if she survives the night."

- - - - - - -

Jess fidgeted, his fingers twisting the dishtowel every which way.

This always happened on days like these.

On the days Rory returned from a long trip abroad, a few things would happen.

First off, Annie's music would sound twice as annoying as usual. So he'd get into a fight with her, she'd tell him to fuck off, then they'd both apologize and look sheepish.

Second, he'd cook something with a deep-seated fear that it would taste like crap.

Third, he'd twist a dishtowel within an inch of its life.

Jess Mariano had to admit it, he was getting silly in his old age.

The fourth thing that would happen, and it would invariably happen at the exact moment the thought of old age popped into his head, he would look at his reflection in the mirror by the door.

He searched for signs of his old self.

He still saw Jess Mariano, town hoodlum, somewhere in there, below the crow's feet and the sparse grey hairs. Only when he saw a glimpse of that, could he take a deep breath and walk to the porch.

Then he would sit on the hammock (not the same one they'd put up almost eight years ago, but another one, in exactly the same place) and wait for her cab to appear up the road.

She was wearing her hair long again, or at least she had been when he'd dropped her off at the airport two months ago, and he was itching to run his fingers through it.

She'd already called to say the airplane had landed. And knowing Rory, she'd probably also called Lorelai and Paris to let them know she was back on good, old, U.S. of A. soil.

He fixed his hair in front of the mirror, and went out to the porch to wait.

- - - - - - -

Annie plopped back on her bed and sighed. One more Saturday afternoon wasted.

Not that she didn't want to see Rory. She did. After all, Rory was practically her mother.

That was just it.

It was completely unnatural for a teenager to spend all her time with her parental figures. That alone was weird enough, Lee and Brian never tired of pointing out. Add to that the fact that the parental figures are your brother and his live-in-girlfriend of eight years and you got yourself a case of big weird. Lorelai Gilmore and daughter kind of weird.

She hadn't minded all that much before but now... She got that both Jess and Rory had crappy relationships with at least one parent and how they tried to be there for her, but sometimes they were there too much.

She stared at her cellphone.

Not like it made much of a difference. The phone doesn't ring more often just because you stare at it.

She heard a car approach, and then she heard Jess's footsteps on the porch, and she knew it was time to smile and walk downstairs.

- - - - - - - -

Rory Gilmore took a deep breath of relief once the house was in sight.

She could see him in the distance, sitting on the hammock.

She loved this quiet moment before getting home, when there were no words, no reproaches, no stories, no kisses, no tears, nothing except the joyous expectation of being home again and the sight of the house getting closer.

And she loved that he shared this moment with her, that he was always sitting there waiting for her.

The car pulled up to the driveway and she paid the cabbie before even looking out to him.

When she did, she grinned widely and all but kicked the door open.

They never actually ran to one another. They just kind of sheepishly gravitated towards each other like they had that time of their first kiss.

Rory linked her hands with Jess's while the cabbie unloaded the luggage.

Rory buried her face in Jess's olive green jacket and Jess tipped the cabbie. As the cab drove away, Jess kissed Rory's forehead, caressed her hair. She'd started to grow it out again a year ago and he loved it. It reminded him of kissing her when they'd been teenagers. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he whispered back.

"I missed you."

"Right back at you."

Rory smiled into his shirt. She heard light footsteps on the porch and she took a step back to look over Jess's shoulder. This time she did run. So did Annie. They ran to each other and hugged and jumped up and down.

"You're so tall!" Rory said. "Isn't she taller, Jess?" Rory shook her head, and Annie smiled. Ok, Annie had to admit it. She had missed Rory. As much fun as Jess was, once a girl gets used to having another girl around, there are just some things boys can't help you with. "I swear, every time I come back, you're like, a foot taller."

"You lie!" Annie said, smiling.

"And you cut your hair! It looks really nice," Rory complimented.

"I missed you!" Annie said, hugging Rory again.

"I missed you, too."

Jess ran his hand through his hair and harrumphed. "If you two girls are done bonding, I'd like to go through the space you're occupying with a heavy suitcase. If you don't mind."

Rory stuck her tongue out at him. "Crabby," she said.

Annie rolled her eyes. "You have no idea."

- - - - - - - -

"Next time I go to Asia, you are coming with me, Annie," Rory said, in between bites of Jess's mac and cheese. "You would've loved the Angkor Wat temple." She had already excitedly described the past two months and all but produced a slideshow.

Annie smiled. "You'll have to convince Jess and Uncle Luke to let me skip school."

Jess rolled his eyes and poured wine into Rory's glass.

"We'll sneak off without telling," Rory replied. "I think my mom still has her incognito outfits in the Crap Shack."

"Those wouldn't be the black pants, black turtlenecks, black beanies?" Jess quipped.

"Don't forget the sunglasses," Annie chimed in.

"Mock away. But it would be a learning experience," Rory replied. "Anyway, since we're on the subject, how's school?"

Annie smirked. A classic Danes smirk. "Almost out."

"You're not enjoying it," Rory stated.

"I think I'd enjoy it more if the teachers didn't think we were morons. If next year starts with another 'What-did-you-do-over-the-holidays' essay, I will drop out," Annie said.

Jess stopped chewing. "You will not."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Whatever, dad," she replied.

Rory gave Jess a steadying look. This was always how their fights started. "This is me, just got in, too tired from the flight to get in the middle of this fight."

"Sorry," they said in unison.

"So aside from school, what's been going on?" Rory asked.

Annie shrugged. "Not much."

"Is there an end-of-the-schoolyear dance?" Rory pushed.

Annie nodded. "Lorelai promised to make me a dress if I wanted to go. Still haven't decided."

"You should go," Rory replied. "Jess hated all school-related-social-functions and look at what he's become."

"Mock me all you want, I'm not chaperoning any proms," Jess chimed in.

"You would if I let you spike the punch," Rory countered.

Annie laughed. Rory had him pegged. "I'll think about it," Annie said, lying a little. "Wouldn't want to end up like Jess here."

"That hurts," Jess deadpanned.

Annie finished her food and started clearing the dishes. "So, I was wondering if I could..." she started, cautiously.

"Go over to Luke's to meet the twins?" Jess completed.

"Yup."

"Free country," Jess replied.

Rory kicked Jess under the table. "What he means is that of course you can. Thanks for having dinner with us."

Annie leaned in and hugged Rory. "I did miss you."

She leaned in to Jess and kissed his cheek. "And I won't be out late."

"Be careful," Jess warned as Annie bounced into her room to get ready.

"It's Stars Hollow. What could happen?" Rory asked.

Jess sighed. "She could get roped in by a local."

"I did not rope you in," Rory said, tossing a napkin at Jess.

"If the shoe fits..."

"Who's roping her in?" Rory asked.

Jess shrugged. "Don't know. But something's going on, and if I find out the name of the guy I'll kill him with my bare hands."

"Danes genes, kicking in." Rory asked."You don't think it's Brian or Lee?"

"No. Someone else."

Rory sighed. "She'll tell us eventually." She got up. "Come on. I'll help you clean up," she said, taking a couple of glasses to the sink.

Jess stopped her hand mid-motion. "Leave it. We'll clean tomorrow. Right now, there's more important stuff to do."

"Like what?" Rory taunted.

"Like what did you bring me?" he asked, twining his hand with hers.

"Who says I brought you anything?"

Annie bounded out of her room. "Bye, guys."

"Stop by Doose's and get some Pop-tarts, please," Jess called out.

A groan. Footsteps.

Annie returned, extended her hand. Jess gave her a ten dollar bill. "Three boxes."

"You forgot to get my Pop-tarts this week at the market," Rory said.

"We don't inhale them like you do," Jess said, justifying himself.

"I'm going," Annie reminded them.

"Grab a jacket!" Rory called out after her.

"I did!" Annie replied.

The door closed behind her. "She really has gotten way too tall," Rory added.

"Rory?" Jess asked.

Rory turned to face him. "Yeah?"

Suddenly, Jess was kissing her. She sunk into the kiss, boneless. His mouth expertly welcomed her back home, made her remember what it was that anchored her here. "Right. Hello to you too."

"It's been too long," Jess reminded her, kissing her jaw.

"What about your present?" Rory teased.

"I think the present can wait," Jess replied. "I'd rather unwrap you now," he said, kissing her neck. His fingers moved to her blouse and started to unbutton it.

Rory bit her lip to contain a moan as his mouth moved lower, to her collarbone. "Wish granted."

- - - - - - - -

They barely made it to the room. They barely made it out of their clothes.

They didn't make it to the bed.

He was inside her and they couldn't think. She moaned with abandon, and he murmured her name over and over and over again. He moved and she moved and the door moved. She closed her eyes and fought to get enough air, because she couldn't breath, not when they were this close, not when he was doing that... oh, god, that...

"Jess..." she whispered, over and over again. "Please... please..."

He readjusted his hold on her, lifted her thighs just a little higher. It was a minuscule change in angle, but he knew, as he knew her body, that it would be enough. Years of exploring her body had taught him exactly what she needed now. He thrust into her once again, twice, and she was there, his name flowing from her lips like a prayer. He came a few seconds later, and it took all his strength to keep them from sliding to the floor.

When the tremors subsided he carried her over to the bed. They lay down together, fingers intertwined.

"Hey," she said, almost blushing. Even after all these years.

"Hey you," he replied. He laughed against her shoulder. "I needed that..."

"I've been dreaming of that since the day I left," Rory countered.

"Next time you go to Asia, I'm coming with," Jess quipped. "Even if I have to be the one staging the coup. I'm boning up on those foreign languages."

Rory let out a contented sigh. She took Jess's hand in his, played with the light streaming through his fingers. Biting her lower lip, she seemed absorbed in thought.

"Something on your mind?" Jess asked.

Rory nodded lightly. "You know that thing we talked about years ago?"

"How Pop-Tarts were astronaut food first?" Jess quipped.

"No. The other thing. The important thing," Rory said.

Jess ran his right hand over her belly. "The kid thing?"

Rory nodded. "I'm ready to stop traveling for the next few years. If the bookstore's doing well, I mean."

Jess nodded, his mouth agape. Practicality first, that was Rory alright. "We have savings. Good savings. Still have some money left over from the book advance. Next payment should come through as soon as I'm done with the next draft. We've got enough money for college, for Annie."

"And we have the trust fund Christopher set up for me. We haven't touched that."

"It'll be fun having a kid running around again," Jess said softly.

Rory nodded. "And Annie's older now, she's mature enough to deal with it. She won't feel threatened or diminished."

"You sound like you're planning a hostile takeover. Show me that pro-con list," Jess said.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Don't mock the pro-con list."

"Rory..."

"Let's just say there were absolutely no cons and 127 pros," Rory said.

Jess smiled. "You wanna have a baby with me?" he asked.

"Current polls point to that outcome," Rory quipped.

"So..."

"So..."

Jess kissed Rory on the lips, softly. He readjusted his weight. "So we start trying, I guess."

"What, now?" Rory asked, mocking him.

He trailed kisses all the way down to her belly. "No time like the present."

- - - - - - - - -

Annie walked into the diner with a certain sense of dread.

She had spent the last eight years of her life walking into the diner at least once a day. The dread was not to the diner itself but to the gnawing sensation of days going by and nothing interesting happening.

Every day was like the next.

School. Home. Diner. Home. Up to do it again the next day.

"Red, you made it!" Lee called out. Annie pushed her reddish hair out of her eyes. Red. A bad nickname that had stuck. Lee and Brian only called her that when they were angry, or upset, or annoyed.

She was betting on number 3.

She waved hello to Luke and plopped down on the chair in front of Brian. "You know how it is."

"Rory's back?" Brian asked.

Annie nodded. "Yup."

"At least now your brother will have someone to distract him," Lee added helpfully.

"Yeah, she'll keep him out of your hair," Brian volunteered.

"Who knows, maybe you'll see the sun long enough to get a date for the dance," Lee commented, playfully bumping her shoulder.

Annie slid down in her chair and groaned. "I wouldn't bet on that. Jess has a track record of castrating all boys that might have the slight idea of walking past me," Annie replied.

"Not us," Lee countered, offended.

"Yeah, but you guys are like... cousins or something. Doesn't count," Annie explained. "I'm depressed. I need junk food."

"I thought you just ate," Lee said.

"I grew up with Rory Gilmore. I learned what it means to eat," Annie pointed out, backing away from the table.

She walked over to the counter to where her Uncle was punching numbers into the calculator. "Hey, Uncle Luke."

"You're not getting coffee," he said, barely looking up.

"Come oooooon," she whined. "Please, please, please, please..."

Luke groaned. He looked up at Annie who was practically jumping over the counter. "No coffee after eight p.m. It's the agreement."

"If I was Rory or Lorelai you'd give in," Annie pouted.

"It's too late for them and their ulcers. You, on the other hand, I can save."

"Come on. Jess has been impossible, Rory's back, and now they're at the house probably going at it like bunnies and I'm here, all alone, wishing for nothing but some coffee and a doughnut."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Rory's back, huh?"

Annie nodded.

"Good, that'll get Jess to lighten up a bit."

Annie smiled sideways. "Everyone says that. Me, I have my doubts."

"He's just looking out for you, you know that, right?" Luke pointed out.

Annie nodded.

"I was worse with him."

"I've heard the stories."

"Didn't work, though."

"Heard that too."

"What kind of doughnut?" asked Luke, giving in.

"Chocolate sprinkles!" Annie requested.

"Go sit, I'll send them to the table with Lynn."

Annie narrowed her eyes. "Lynn Forrester? You hired her?"

"She wanted a job, I had one."

"You just did it to mess with Mr. Forrester."

Luke let a small smile leave his lips. "That's just a perk. She's efficient and she doesn't glare at customers," he pointed out.

"I resent that. I do not glare at customers. I glare at Kirk, Taylor, and the idiot who asks for twenty coffee refills but never tips," Annie replied. "And the lady that comes here on Wednesdays and barks."

"Right. So you're still going to work here this summer, right?"

Annie nodded. "Gotta work to support my crack habit."

Luke shook his head. To hear a sixteen-year old talk about drugs so lightly always made him feel strange. But Annie and Jess had grown up with the knowledge of Liz's activities and the fact that they made light of it, though uncomfortable for him, made sense. It was a way of dealing with it.

"It's like you're Jess but with long hair," Luke muttered.

"I'm going to go wait for my coffee... You know, before your head explodes from all that stress."

"You do that."

- - - - - - - -

Doose's was deserted, and five minutes from closing, when Annie finally worked up the energy to go in.

She scanned the aisles for something new and exciting, but found no such thing. She sighed and headed straight for the Pop-tarts.

She grabbed the three boxes and, balancing them in one arm, struggled to keep them from falling as she searched her pockets for the money.

In a manner not unlike Rory's, she walked without looking to where she was going, only to find herself slamming into someone tall. The boxes flew out of her hands.

"Watch it, Red," he said, steadying her.

Annie looked up at Seth. For a sixteen year old, Seth was almost as tall as his father. He had longish blonde hair. He was wearing the classic Doose's green apron.

"You watch it," she replied, picking up the boxes.

"What the hell is your problem?" Seth asked, following her to the cash register.

"I have zero problems. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Except that you're following me," she rambled. "You do know stalking is a felony in Connecticut, right?"

Seth shook his head in disbelief. "I work here. It's almost closing so it's just me, working. You bring stuff to the register," Seth explained, pointing the price gun at the boxes. "I ring up the purchases, you pay. It's how this generally works."

Annie smiled tensely. "Thanks for the update. Always a pleasure to hear about how this wonderful establishment functions." She pushed the ten-dollar bill onto the counter and walked out without waiting for the change.

"Nut-job!" Seth called after her, but she was already out of the store, stuffing the boxes into a plastic bag as she walked.

- - - - - - - - -

Rory lay in bed, her pajama of choice one of Jess's t-shirts. She liked these moments when they were the old-unmarried-married-couple, showered and dressed for bed. He liked it when they wore clothes to bed, because he loved undressing her. She traced lazy circles on Jess's belly by the lamplight. Jess proofed some pages, something that Rory usually did for him.

"I've been thinking about what Annie said," Rory started.

Jess looked up from his papers. "Which part?"

"About not feeling challenged in school. How she's bored. Kinda reminded me of someone."

Jess took off his glasses and set them on the bedside table. "Who?"

"You. And me."

"Chilton always challenged you," Jess pointed out.

"The reason I went to Chilton was because Stars Hollow High was getting... well... boring."

Rory had caught his attention, she could tell. "You think private school would be a better idea for Annie?"

"Or maybe she could take some AP classes in a college nearby. I don't know. There are options."

"You think they'd take her? At some place like Chilton, I mean."

Rory shrugged. "I don't see why not. She has great grades, work ethic, she's done some volunteering. Plus she has an interesting profile, she's been taking dancing lessons since she was seven."

"Raised by unwed brother, mother in and out of rehab until a few years ago," Jess countered.

Rory felt the pang of regret in Jess's voice. "Hey, you. You... we've given her a stable home. As stable as can be. Plus, my mom was unwed when I got into Chilton."

"Right."

"Anyway, we'd have to ask her first, see if she's interested in taking the placement test."

"You ask her. If I ask her, she'll think it's some ploy to lock her up in a castle or something."

Rory propped herself up on her elbows. "You two have been having trouble getting along?"

Jess shrugged. "Don't know. Things have been getting harder. She doesn't want to talk to me much anymore. She's secretive, and she doesn't like to be around the house so much, she likes to go out all the time. Almost like she's avoiding me."

"You tend to be a little overprotective."

"I'm just looking out for her."

Rory sat up and kissed Jess's bare shoulder. "I know you are. But maybe, just maybe, you should give her some space. Trust her judgement. She's got a good head on her shoulders."

Jess nodded. "I'll try."

"Plus you raised her. And you were nothing if not trouble when you were her age."

"I was a gentleman."

"You were a hoodlum."

Just then Rory heard the front door close. Soft steps approached their door. Catching the light from under the door, Annie knocked.

"You guys decent?" she asked.

Rory blushed, Jess rolled his eyes. "Come in."

Annie opened the door with her hand over her eyes. Peeked. Smiled. "Just wanted to let you know I'd gotten in."

"How are the twins?" Rory asked.

"Banned from their living room until they decide to drop the Cuban Percussion Project and go back to rock-and-roll," Annie explained, plopping down at the foot of the bed.

"Man, Lane can be worse than Mama Kim," Jess pointed out.

"Luke?" Rory asked.

"Refused to give me coffee."

"Blasphemy!" Rory deadpanned.

"Smart man," Jess countered.

"I talked him out of his crazy ways. He told me to tell you that Lorelai would be out of town until Thursday at the Inn Convention Thingy in New York," Annie said, trying to recall the exact name of the convention. "She took Hannah with her."

"She told me, I talked to her on the phone."

"Oh, Oh, and this is good gossip!" Annie started, pounding her hands on the mattress. "Luke hired Lynn."

"Lynn?" Jess asked, confused.

"Lynnette Forrester. You know, Dean Forrester's daughter?"

Jess groaned. Rory swatted his arm. "What?"

"No need to bring the kids in on your feud with Dean," Rory said sternly.

"Everyone knows you and Dean don't like each other. Luke really doesn't like Dean. And Dean never lets Lynn or Seth eat at Luke's. That's why the gossip is so good. Word is that Lynn's mom and dad had a huge fight over it. Finally they let her take the job, because Lynn's mom threatened divorce or something."

"Go, Lindsay!" Jess joked. Rory elbowed him again.

"What have I said about this before?" Rory asked.

Jess and Annie sang along in unison. "We will not mock Dean Forrester."

"Thank you."

"So Annie... I have this idea... It might be a solution to your problems at school," Rory mentioned.

"I can drop out?" Annie asked, excitedly, knowing it was a bad joke. Jess groaned.

"Do you think Chilton would be a good fit for you?" Rory asked.

Annie's mouth dropped open. She forced it closed. She looked over to Jess for help, but he just looked at his hands.

"Stuck up, private-school Chilton?" Annie asked.

"Challenging, competitive, I-went-there Chilton," Rory replied.

Annie fidgeted with the sheets. "No offense, but I don't think I'd fit it."

Rory pursed her lips. "I didn't really fit in socially either, not really," she conceded. "But the curriculum and the teachers... Well, it was really hard but I learned a lot."

Annie nodded. "I learn."

"But you're bored in school," Jess said.

"So were you, but you didn't go to private school," Annie pointed out.

"I was. Bored to death of Stars Hollow High," Rory confessed. "Going to Chilton gave me and edge to get into the college I wanted."

Annie nodded, trying to get it to sink in. "I'm not sure about this," she said, biting her lower lip.

"We're not saying, hey, you're switching schools. It's your choice because it is a lot of work and it's your life. But maybe you want to look into the curriculum, have a look around campus... Then, if you want, you take the entrance exam."

"So even if I wanted to go, I have to take a test to see if I get in? Oh, maaaan."

Jess raised his eyebrows. He always did that when Annie did something that was purely Jess-inherited. "Crazy, right?"

Annie shook her head a little, softly, just to clear her head. "Can't hurt to look around, see what the classes are like."

Rory grinned from ear to ear. "I could get you an appointment."

"Cool," Annie nodded.

At least it would be something different. At least it would be something to do.

"Anyway, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Annie said, smoothing the sheets where she'd just been sitting.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You have any big plans for tomorrow?"

Annie shook her head. "Nope."

"Maybe we can go shopping or something?" Rory suggested.

"Sure," Annie replied. "Goodnight."

"Night, kid," Jess called out after her. Annie closed the bedroom door.

"Have I ever told you how much I love our family?" Rory asked softly, burying her nose on Jess's bare shoulder.

He kissed her forehead softly. "I think so."

"Good. Don't want to be repetitive."

"Or redundant."

- - - - - - - - - -

Annie closed the door to her bedroom.

Private school. What a curious idea.

It would mean no twins. That would just be... unheard of.

Also would mean no Forresters.

No Seth Forrester.

She groaned into her pillow. That would be just swell. He wouldn't be around to bug her in school.

She wouldn't be around to see him leave school with his arm around a different girl every week.

Private school was sounding pretty good right about now.

TBC...

Author's note 2: Soooooo... How do you like it? As I said before, most of the usual suspects will male an appearance. Hopefully you enjoyed this... Let me know!


	2. The Rumor Mill

_Author's note - Hi all (tiny wave): I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate your reviews and taking the time to read this. I've noticed quite a few of you have either favorited or put this story on your alerts. I'm honored. Please, if you can, drop by and tell me what you like. I also feared (right along with some of you) that Annie's storyline could become boring for readers who enjoy more canon stories. However, Annie's character just grew on me, and I would love it if you can tell me what you like and what you don't. Her storyline is progressing nicely. _

_I forgot in the last chapter, so let's all say this: I pledge that I own nothing. I disclaim._

_And, just remember, this is M rated for a reason..._

_On to it!_

**CHAPTER 2 – The Rumor Mill**

By the time Monday rolled around, Annie was in a mood.

She'd tried on three different outfits before deciding what to wear to school, which wasn't like her at all. She finally settled on the ochre wraparound pants Rory had brought her back from India and a black tank top.

_Pro # 1 of Private School: Never again having to pick what to wear to school, Annie thought._

The walk to school was relatively short. She just cut across the greens that surrounded the house, crossed the bridge, zig-zagged around Lorelai's backyard, past Babette's gnomes, to Peach, and then three blocks down to the school. She sometimes took short detours, stopping at Lorelai's to say hi to Hannah, or walking with Jess to the bookstore first. Some other days she went with Rory to Luke's for breakfast before school. It made for slight variations on the days.

She had just turned onto Peach when she spotted something new.

A car.

A car she'd never seen before, driven by none other than Seth Forrester.

With a snicker, Annie recalled the story Lorelai and Rory always told about throwing deviled eggs at Jess's car. She wished she had some sort of _hors d'oeuvre _ to toss at him. Anything would do, salmon puffs, or those horrible shrimp thingies that Grandma Gilmore was always serving.

She kept on walking, trying to ignore the glaring new paint on the restored convertible.

"Hey, Red," Seth called out. "Need a ride?" Annie kept walking, pretending not to hear. He slowed down the car and pulled up close. "You might as well, I used your change to pump gas into it."

"Then you have about half a block left to drive, because my change was eighty-six cents," Annie replied.

"Come on, Jameson, get in the car?" Seth offered.

Annie stopped and turned to face him. "Why, Seth? Why should I take you up on an offer to drive me ten blocks to school in your renovated death trap of a car?"

"Because... It's a good way to break the routine," Seth replied, thinking fast.

Annie tilted her head to one side. "Good answer." She walked over to the other side of the car and got into the passenger's seat. "Where's Lynn?"

"She had band practice, she went in early," Seth replied. "Oboe. Buckle your seat-belt."

"You're going at, like, five miles an hour," Annie said, grabbing the seat-belt.

"I don't want to be the one to explain to your dad why his daughter flew out the windshield when the deer came out of nowhere," Seth said.

Annie clicked the seat-belt. in place. "Brother. Jess is my brother. Anyway, first you'd have to possess someone's body to speak, because if I ever did fly out the windshield he'd probably kill you before you had any chance to explain."

"Easy to forget he's your brother," Seth pointed out. "He's my dad's age."

"Yeah, they're buh-ddies," Annie said, faking cheer.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Seth asked.

Annie raised an eyebrow. "Honest question?"

Seth nodded, turning left on Orange. Taylor waved hello from his front yard. Seth gave him a half-smile, half-wave. "I have no idea why they don't get along."

"You really want to know?" Annie asked.

"I really want to know."

"Your dad used to date Rory. Way back in high school. Then Jess moved here, and Rory started hanging out with Jess. And, well... You've seen them, right? They're Rory and Jess," Annie explained.

"I don't know what that means," Seth said. "I don't spend that much time in town."

Annie rolled her eyes. "They click. And not in the mushy-high-school-couple way, but on an intellectual level."

"Are you calling my dad dumb?" Seth asked, only half joking.

"No, smart-ass. All I'm saying is, when Jess and Rory saw each other that was it. Your dad was out of the picture," Annie finished.

Seth looked at her sideways. "So that's it? That's the story?"

"Well, after that he met your mom, married, had kids, the kids grew up and a particularly annoying one asked dumb questions."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Hey, unbuckle your seat belt, I think I see a deer."

Annie shrugged. "That's it as far as I know. Rory doesn't talk about it and my brother isn't the most vocal person in the world. All I know is Jess was after Rory, so your Dad hated him. Your Dad was with Rory, so Jess hated him."

"Huh."

"Yup."

"We're here," Seth announced, pulling into the school parking lot.

And so they were. "No shit, Sherlock."

Seth sighed. "Knew that you talking like a regular human being wasn't going to last."

"Blame it on the alien abduction," Annie replied, shrugging. She opened the car door and tapped the hood of the car. "Thanks for the ride."

"Welcome. Maybe sometime I could pick you up..." he started, but she was already halfway up the steps to the main entrance.

- - - - - - - - -

"Ride with the devil," Lee said, catching up to Annie at her locker. Brian followed close behind.

"Driving Miss Annie," he volunteered, sing-songy and annoying.

Annie closed her locker. "I was on the road, he wouldn't stop bugging me, I got in the car, no biggie."

"Waaaay biggie," Lee replied. "Tall-ie, too."

"It's like I'm surrounded by a sideshow," Annie muttered. "You two seen Mattie around?"

The twins shook their heads at the same time.

"Great. I'll see you two in bio."

- - - - - - - -

Lunch was the first Annie saw of Mattie. As many had predicted upon her baptism, Martha Belleville hated the name Sookie and Jackson had saddled her with, choosing instead to respond only to a childhood nickname that Annie herself had created.

Mattie had decided early in life that she would not be associated with her mother's style, choosing instead to wear all black, all the time. She also could not hold a spoon without tipping over a pan, and had no idea how to distinguish a squash from a kielbasa.

"What did you do this time?" Annie asked, plopping down on the seat in front of Mattie in the cafeteria. Mattie was busy carving an intricate drawing into the table with her protractor.

"Mom was making tuna carpaccio when I decided to announce I was becoming a vegetarian. She blamed my dad's zucchini - "

"Dirty," Annie pointed out.

"Ew!" Mattie replied. "Anyway, one thing led to another, which led to a ladle flying through the kitchen, towards Dave's arm."

"So that's why you're not answering your phone?"

Mattie shrugged. "Mom took it. I'm grounded for a week."

"So you got grounded for your mom almost taking your brother's arm off?" Annie asked.

Mattie shrugged. "In my house, if you start the fight, you take the fall for it." Mattie finally looked up from the table. "Looks good, doesn't it?"

Annie surveyed the work. "It really does look like a fruit bowl still life."

"Precisely what I was going for. Anyway, word in Math-for-dummies is that a certain Seth Forrester gave you a ride to school."

"Huh. From what I overheard in AP Math, I was banging him last night and it was only polite for him to drive me to school," Annie countered.

"What a gentleman," Mattie concluded.

"How long before Jess hears about it?"

Mattie did the calculations in her head. "Any of the _town elders_ see you?"

Annie cringed. "Taylor."

"Blind as a bat, but you're easy to spot. I'd say, two days, tops."

"Suggestions?"

Mattie grabbed one of Annie's chips. "Avert crisis by coming clean first. Even though you didn't do anything wrong. I know you're saving yourself for Joe."

Annie ate her last chip and crumpled up the package. "He is cute, in a nerdy, weird-afro, too-old-to-even-consider sort of way."

"And he'll give you free pizza."

"Well, there you go."

- - - - - - - -

Jess was finishing up with the new display when he heard the bell of the bookstore. Just in case, he warned, "No, Kirk, I don't need extra help, thank you very much."

"That's polite of you," Annie said.

Jess shrugged. "I figured I had a 50-50 chance it would be him. Rory always says, if it's 50-50 you should try polite."

"She's got a point there."

"School? Was good?" Jess asked, trying to do the whole give-her-space thing.

"It was ok. It's been better, it's been worse."

"Help me put these back on the shelves?" Jess handed her a pile of books.

Annie nodded. "Sure."

"So, was there anything you needed in particular?" Jess asked.

Annie shrugged. "I was wondering if my last order came in."

"Nope," Jess replied. "The shipment got delayed. They're having freak weather down in Texas."

"Right." Annie placed the books on the respective shelves, trying to keep to Jess's rigorous system of organization. Timidly, she asked. "Can I tell you something without you getting mad?"

Jess took a deep breath and put down all the books he was carrying. "You can tell me anything. And I'll do my best to not get mad."

Annie nodded. "Seth Forrester offered me a ride to school today and I took it."

Jess swallowed hard. "Huh."

"It's just that Seth doesn't have the best of reputations and I didn't want it getting back to you and you thinking I'd done something which I haven't," Annie explained.

"Huh."

"And I know you don't like Seth's dad, but it was just a car ride, which I didn't really need, but just... ignore the rumor mill," Annie finished.

"You ramble like a Gilmore," Jess pointed out.

"I'm an honorary Gilmore."

"I'm not mad."

"Ok."

"And I'm glad I heard it from you."

"Ok."

"But if that kid starts some rumor I'll hang him by his toenails."

Annie grinned. "Feel free to hang away."

Jess patted Annie's hair and groaned. "I know I get mad a lot and go a little overboard with the overprotective thing. It's just... this... you know?"

"I know," Annie replied. And she did know. Stars Hollow had always gone a little cuckoo over Jess, and Annie got some of that flack by extension. Plus, Jess was part Danes, and Luke was like that too. A big papa-bear. He hugged her shoulders before letting her go.

"Do you have ballet today?" Jess asked.

Annie nodded. "I'm going over to Miss Patty's in a few. Just wanted to beat the Rumor Mill at its own game."

"You got to me before Patty did, you're either really quick or Patty's losing speed at her old age."

"Call her old to her face and she'll pinch your butt again."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Pointed toes and hand positioned just so and turn and...

"Arabesque," Miss Patty called out. Annie dipped into position. "Very nice," Miss Patty complemented.

The studio was empty except for Annie and Miss Patty. It had been this way for two years, when Annie's level got better and better and her classmates started lagging behind. A few dropped the classes.

In all truth, she had also surpassed Miss Patty's ability for teaching, so another dance instructor would come three times a week (courtesy of Emily Gilmore). But she still needed strength training and consistent work, and Patty enjoyed watching Annie. Annie didn't have the heart to tell Patty that she could do the routines in her sleep. Plus the company was nice, and Patty was always up to date with the latest gossip.

Speaking of which...

"So, Annie, dear, I heard you went out with Seth Forrester," Patty said, her eyes widening in delight.

Annie rolled her eyes, resumed first position. "He gave me a ride to school."

"You know, his father and Jess never did get along. Always fighting for Rory. It was very exciting..."

"Yup," Annie spoke through the exertion of a plié. "Heard that story before."

"It would be very interesting to see the reaction if you two ever..."

"Don't worry," Annie pointed out. "Not gonna happen."

Patty's smile fell. "Right. Well... How about we do a set of Grand Jetés?"

- - - - - - -

Rory pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and sighed. She was almost done with the expense report on her trip and her joints ached. It had been a while since she'd done office work, she mostly typed her stories quickly, on the off moments she got from being in the middle of the action. This relaxed work pace was unusual.

She knew that when she got pregnant, she'd have to stick to more desk work, help with the bookstore's accounts, write small pieces and book reviews.

But she was ready.

Jess had brought up the subject of kids when Annie was ten years old. They'd been living together for three years and Hannah, Lorelai and Luke's daughter, had just been born. They had talked about it over a breakfast that lasted until 5PM. Rory had made a pro-con list. Jess had looked over her shoulder.

They had decided then that they weren't ready. They weren't ready for a second child, they weren't ready to take the time off from work, they weren't ready to face everyone about their decision. Also, they had yet to get used to their marital status. They had decided that they wouldn't get married, because Jess hated government paperwork and, as he'd aptly put it, "I don't need a fucking license to tell me who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with."

Rory had never been the kind of girl to dream of a white wedding. Every year they would take a walk to the bridge on the anniversary of the day he returned to Stars Hollow. They would take off their shoes and dip their toes in the water, and tell each other their vows and promises. They would tell stories. It was more than a wedding... it was a marriage they had made, a mingling of lives.

Now the town had gotten used to the fact that, no, they would not be privy to a Rory-Jess wedding. The only ones that had yet to accept it were the elder Gilmores. It had come as a great surprise to Rory when Emily and Richard started to become fond of Annie. She had thought that she would be forced to face the same scrutiny Jess had come under. But Annie had charmed her way into the Gilmore hearts and she had a special place at the table during Friday night dinners. Rory, however, had lost popularity in the eyes of her grandparents as it became evident that she and Jess would not take the step towards marriage.

Rory finished adding up the taxes and got up to pour herself some coffee when she heard Jess at the door. He took off his boots right in the doorway, and his socks, and walked barefoot to the kitchen.

"Hey," he greeted her, grinning at the sight of Rory pouring out the last of the coffee.

"Hi," she replied. She leaned in for a kiss.

Jess backed away. "How about you put down the mug and the scalding pot first? Don't feel like getting burned today."

Rory acquiesced, narrowing her eyes at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers played with the softly curling hair there. "You know what they say about playing with fire."

Jess kissed her hungrily, silencing her words, eliciting soft moans. His hands rested on her waist. "Making up for lost time," he whispered, his words tickling her earlobes.

"Aw, guys, please not in the kitchen again," Annie complained, appearing out of nowhere. She opened the fridge, looking for a snack. Her skin was still flushed from exercise.

Jess and Rory pulled apart quickly, a skill acquired through years of practice.

"Huh," Annie said.

"Huh what?" Rory asked.

"Uncle Luke's right. Shrapnel."

Jess shrugged.

Annie finally found a bag of baby carrots and popped one into her mouth.

Rory made a face. "I don't get your relationship with vegetables. All my hard work introducing you to the world of chili fries and milkshakes and you eat carrot sticks."

"Carrot sticks are good. Specially with lemon and salt," Annie declared.

Jess took one of her carrot sticks and started chomping away. "Plus they're good for you," he added.

"Funny rabbits," Rory said, rummaging through the cabinets for some cereal. "I'm hungry."

"I don't feel like cooking today," Jess replied.

"Oooh, let's order in!" Annie suggested. "Sandeep's!" both Annie and Rory said, simultaneously.

Rory grabbed the phone and started dialing before Jess could complain.

Jess rolled his eyes. "I'll set up a blanket on the porch. That food is not coming inside this house and that's final."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Since it wasn't fully summer yet, there were no mosquitoes on the porch. Rory sat cross-legged as she picked through the curried chicken with a piece of bread. Annie, who'd already finished eating, stretched her legs. Jess watched them from the hammock, eating a ham on rye sandwich.

Rory fanned her tongue. "Heavy curry, heavy."

"You always say that," Jess replied. "Which is why I never try the stuff."

"You lack a sense of adventure when it comes to food," Rory replied.

"I do not. Every time you decide to cook, I take a bite. It's the culinary equivalent of bungee jumping with K-mart rope."

Rory stuck her tongue out at Jess.

Annie watched them silently. She enjoyed their exchanges, and enjoyed how much they knew each other. She'd asked them once, a long time ago, why they'd never married, being that they loved one another so much. Rory had shrugged and said, "You know the difference between building a house and pitching a tent?" Annie had nodded. "Well," Jess had chimed in. "We're building a house."

She wasn't sure she quite understood the sentiment. Weddings still seemed like fairy tale events to her. She'd worked a couple of weddings at the Dragonfly, and she'd loved Lorelai's simple but beautiful wedding when she was little. She'd even gotten the chance to be a bridesmaid then. But then again, a wedding and a marriage were completely different things. If a choice had to be made between both, Annie liked to think she would choose what Jess and Rory had over any fancy wedding ring affair.

Rory took a drink of iced tea and cringed a little. "Ah, I just remembered something. We have dinner at my Grandparents this Friday."

"What reminded you, the allusion to jumping to one's death?" Jess asked.

"Actually, yeah," Rory replied.

Annie shrugged. "They're not so bad."

Jess sat up on the hammock. "That's 'cause they love you."

"They do, don't they," Annie grinned.

"The first time my Grandmother saw you place a napkin on your lap she felt vindicated," Rory admitted. "You were born graceful, my dear."

"And the ballet thing doesn't hurt. They _love_ the ballet thing," Jess added.

"Is Lorelai going to be there?" Annie asked.

"Hell, yeah. You don't think I'd let us get suckered in without getting my mother involved, do you?" Rory replied.

Jess took a swig of beer. "That's my girl."

- - - - - - -

"Jess?" Rory called softly. She was sitting in bed rubbing her aching neck.

Jess finished brushing his teeth and checked them in the mirror. "What?"

"Would you give me a massage? My back hurts."

Jess walked back into the room in his boxers, and moved to sit behind Rory. He bracketed her body with his legs, and she used his knees to support her arms. "Thanks, Dodger."

"Desk work?" Jess asked.

"The worst kind. Expense reports. Little square boxes and numbers. Excel was made by the devil," Rory answered, allowing her head to hang low. "Yeah, right there."

"You say something like that again and I might not finish the job," Jess quipped. Rory swatted his leg playfully.

"Dirty."

"Exactly my point."

"Jess..."

"Ok, ok," he conceded. He kneaded her shoulder-blades, tracing them with his fingertips. "Chicken wings."

"Way to compliment the girl."

"I already have you in my bed. Half my work is done," he joked.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Anything interesting happen at work today?"

"Yup," Jess replied.

Rory looked up at the ceiling. "Care to elaborate?"

"Annie came in to tell me Dean's oldest kid offered her a ride to school and she took it. Told me that since that kid doesn't have the best of reputations the rumor mill would probably start churning some R-rated version of everything and she just wanted me to hear it from her first, so I'd know nothing happened. In the next two hours, fifteen people came in to tell me about the same car ride, ratings varied," Jess explained.

Rory tensed. "You didn't go after Seth Forrester, did you? Do we have to flee the state? Do you need a lawyer? An alibi?"

"I came home straight after work," Jess replied. "No one was killed."

Rory relaxed. She turned around and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

"Doesn't mean I don't want to kill the kid," Jess replied.

"Of course it doesn't," Rory said.

"Does she need a ride to school? I could drive her... she always says she prefers walking..." Jess asked, trying to figure it out.

"Jess... relax..." Rory answered. "He was probably going the same way and just ran into her on the street. You offered me a ride a couple of times, there was nothing... Ok, bad example. You know what I mean."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Exactly my point."

Rory turned her head a little, to face him. "Jess Mariano, you will take a couple of deep breaths and you will let things take their course. It was one car ride. And just because you dislike his father doesn't mean this boy is a bad kid. We both know quite well how one can be a world away from one's parents."

Jess nodded. He kissed the nape of Rory's neck absently. "I know... It's just that I don't want her to get hurt."

"I know, babe," Rory said, shivering a little from his kiss. "But nothing has happened. So just... relax a little..."

Jess gave her another absentminded kiss but this time he noticed the change in her demeanor. Her breathing became shallow. He ran his fingers up and down her arms and she shivered. He pushed her hair out of the way and kissed the nape of her neck, her shoulders, her spine. She hissed out his name and he pulled her closer, his arm surrounding her belly. He kissed a path along the side of her neck and the air left her lungs.

"Jess... what are you doing?" she asked, softly.

He kissed his way back up her neck, nibbled on her earlobe. "I'm relaxing," he whispered. His hands found their way up her t-shirt. He counted her ribs, brushed the underside of her breasts. He felt her nipples harden in the palm of his hands. "Oh, god," Rory said, arching back. He felt himself harden in turn. She grabbed at his hair, pulling lightly, just the way he liked it. She brought her mouth up to his and he kissed her, all the time his hands wandering over her body, under her clothes. His fingers played with the waistband of her panties, and she impatiently writhed trying to get Jess to touch her just a little lower.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. He was intoxicating and she needed all of him. She turned around and fumbled with his boxers while he raised her t-shirt up to kiss the exposed skin. Need knotted deep within her and she took off her panties and discarded them. He took his time kissing her breasts, taking a nipple in his mouth and licking, sucking, nibbling.

"Jess, please," she asked, and he ignored her, concentrating on her other breast. She cursed under her breath but he just kept his rhythm, until all she could do was take matters into her own hands.

Hovering over him, she guided him inside her, and sighed of contentment as she sank down on him. "Yes..." she hissed out.

"Rory," he murmured against her skin. He helped her out of her t-shirt and ran his fingers up and down her spine.

She rocked her body on top of his, sliding up and down and trying to hold on. He helped as much as he could, but in this position she was in charge, setting the pace.

"love...having you... inside... me..." she whispered, her breath labored. "oh, god."

She knew exactly what her words did to him, and she picked up the pace because she knew that he needed it. He thrust into her with her name on his lips, and she buried her face in his shoulder. It was all she could do not to scream as she came. Her low moan against his skin did him in.

They remained like this, silent, for a few seconds, not moving. "Wow," she whispered, still taken aback by the urgency with which they'd made love.

"Yeah. Didn't know we still had that in us," Jess said. Rory raised an eyebrow. "I mean, it's always great but... wow..."

Rory nodded. "We should do that again sometime."

"You know where I live," Jess replied, kissing her shoulder. "How's your neck?"

Rory smiled as Jess's hand softly traced her nape. "Never better."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The rumor mill was abuzz in ways Annie did not dare attempt explain. She'd never had so much fun as she had in the minds of the kids at Stars Hollow High.

"You've certainly been busy," Mattie proclaimed. "One rumor puts you in two places at the same time."

Annie sighed, shutting her locker. "Let me guess. Back of Forrester's car AND breaking glass unicorns at Sandy's Ornament Shop."

"Close, but no cigar. You were apparently sneaking into the bookstore to make out on the Red couch while simultaneously skinny dipping near the bridge."

"You do realize you just named the TWO places where I wouldn't be caught dead making out with any guy, much less Forrester, right?" Annie replied. "I mean, the bridge is like classic Rory-Jess. And they own the bookstore."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger."

Annie gave her a friendly death-glare. "Messengers deserve shooting once in a while."

"On that note, I'm gonna run away to Bio, see if I can find out what else you were doing."

"I always wanted to be ubiquitous," Annie mused, making her way to class.

- - - - -

Annie concentrated on the problem in front of her. _ If x is the longest side of the..._ It was hard to do trigonometry when the guy behind you kept saying _Psst_.

She didn't even know what it was about. She never talked to Sean Presby.

"Psst," Sean kept insisting.

Annie cleared the screen on her calculator and angrily whispered back. "What do you want?"

Sean passed her a note. "Not mine," Sean said.

Annie glared at Sean but took the note.

Outside, one word: _Red_.

She couldn't quite place the handwriting.

She quietly opened it and found few words inside.

_Sorry about that. Stupid town. Seth._

Smiling, she stuffed the tiny square of paper in her pocket and picked her pencil up again.

- - - - - - - - - -

Annie walked out of the school with renewed confidence. There was a little spring in her step. Mattie had pointed out something about her mood, and did it have anything to do with her orange t-shirt? Mattie was a big believer in color therapy. Which was why she never wore color. She didn't appreciate other people reading into her moods.

But as soon as Annie stepped onto the school parking lot, she might as well have been wearing red rage.

Her face dropped as she saw, from a distance, Seth Forrester making out with Debbie Harding against the door of his car.

If she'd had a pocketknife she would've slashed his tires. She could key his car, but he was standing too close to it.

Only one thing to do.

When you can't beat it, mock it.

"Didn't know the car came with Barbie accessories," she said to Mattie, who was approaching the scene.

"Don't think it does," Mattie replied. Her eyes filled with mischief. "Hey Forrester, did she come with the car? I thought they were each sold separately."

As they walked closer to the car and she saw Seth pry himself away from Debbie, Annie chimed in. "Mattel really has dropped its quality standards."

"Tsk tsk," Mattie added. "Bad business practices."

They passed the car, ignoring Debbie as she flipped them the bird.

"Jerk," Annie muttered.

"Freaks!" Debbie called after them.

- - - - - - - - - -

Annie slammed the door when she got home.

Rory, startled, stood up off the couch and approached Annie.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Rory asked, taking in Annie's reddish hair sticking to her face. She'd been crying.

"Nothing... just..." she tried to speak but the words didn't come out too well. She wanted to explain but she also wanted to keep some parts to herself. But since finding the right words wasn't going too well, she did what she could. With tears still pouring out, she hugged Rory and held on for dear life. And then, out of nowhere, she blurted out, "Chilton. I want to go to Chilton."

_TBC..._

_Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading._


	3. Mothering

**Author's note: I just wanted to thank everyone who's dropped me a line about the story or "favorited" it or even just put it on their alert. I love knowing that you're out there, reading it. I specially want to give the reviewers a shout-out! You guys are the best, and most of you are clairvoyant, and as you predicted... Well, I'll just let you keep on reading. **

**CHAPTER 3 – Mothering**

Rory poured a cup of coffee for a much calmer Annie.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rory asked, sitting down beside her.

Annie shrugged. "I'm just being silly."

"Who am I to judge?" Rory replied.

Annie took a deep breath. "It's just... someone disappointed me. First I thought really badly of... this person... then they surprised me, and then they disappointed me. I don't know if that makes any sense."

"You could just tell the story straight out. You know you can tell me anything," Rory answered.

Annie shook her head. "I need to keep some of this for myself. For now." She sighed. "You know how Stars Hollow is."

Rory nodded in understanding. "Ok. Just... the Chilton thing? Don't do it because of me, or because of Jess, or because of trouble you might be having with a friend. Do it because it's something you want. Running away from trouble doesn't mean that trouble won't run after you."

Annie took a sip of coffee and smiled. "Sorry I had a Niagara Falls moment."

"You cry on my shoulder all you want, babe. You know I'm here for you, right?"

Annie nodded.

Rory smiled as well. "Good. And so is Jess. He's not the best guy when it comes to saying things, but... Well, when he writes them, everything comes out better, doesn't it?"

"He should walk around with a script," Annie joked. "Or a little whiteboard with markers."

"He loves you. And he's deathly afraid of hurting the people he loves, of seeing them hurt. Sometimes his intention to protect us is bigger than he is. It runs away with him."

Annie nodded. "I know."

"Ok," Rory said. "Just wanted to make sure." She put down her coffee cup and ruffled Annie's hair. "I'll call the Chilton Headmaster tomorrow and get you an appointment, and a tour. Then you can see for yourself what you want to do."

"Ok." Annie stood from the table and started towards her room, coffee cup in hand.

Rory, biting her lip in worry, let her go.

- - - - - - - -

It was almost ten p.m. when the phone rang. It always surprised Jess when the landline rang. It had taken him a long time to get used to cell phones, but now everyone had a cel, even Annie had one. So the landline hardly ever rang.

He picked up the phone as he always did. "Talk."

Rory, who'd been in the shower seconds earlier, walked out of the bathroom drying her hair and swatted him with the towel. She hated his phone manners, but was mostly used to them.

However, she watched his expression change from relaxed to tense, and he nodded into the phone. "Hey, Liz."

Rory could almost hear Liz on the other end, her voice high-pitched and somewhat accelerated.

"Yeah, Liz. It's no problem. You know you can always call," Jess answered. Rory smiled sympathetically.

Jess winced and Rory knew Liz had asked about Annie. It had always been a sore topic, Annie's living with them.

"She's good. Doing well in school. You wanna talk to her?"

Jess sighed. Liz's voice escalated, and Rory could tell from Jess's face that Liz was crying.

"Liz, it's ok. Do you want me to go pick you up?"

Silence. Jess gestured to Rory, who quickly found him a pen. Jess wrote down the address on the inside of his arm.

"Liz, it's no trouble. It's ok, Liz. Just stay where you are, and I'll pick you up and you can come sleep over here tonight, ok?" Jess closed his eyes and ran his free hand through his hair. "Fine. Ok. You can sleep at Luke's diner then. Yeah, upstairs. I'll talk to him. Ok. Just stay right there."

Jess hung up the phone and sighed.

"Where is she?" Rory asked.

Jess shrugged. "Some dive between here and Woodbury. Says she took the wrong bus trying to come visit and she doesn't have any money." He grabbed his jacket and the car keys. "I think she's off her meds again."

"Do you want me to call Luke?" Rory asked.

Jess nodded. "She doesn't want to stay here, says she doesn't want Annie to see the mess. But I don't really want her to stay in her apartment alone tonight."

"Do you think she's ok?"

"She'll stay the night, I'll talk her into taking her meds again, she'll go back to Woodbury to sell earrings."

"What should I tell Annie?" Rory asked.

"Don't tell her anything," Jess answered. "I'll tell her when I get back."

- - - - - - - - - -

The drive back to Stars Hollow with Liz in the car was nerve-wracking. She kept repeating random words she saw on road signs, singing out the mileage or the speed, whichever display she read.

"Liz, how long have you been off the meds?" Jess asked, finally, when the Welcome sign was visible.

"They were making me so tired... I was sleeping hours and hours and couldn't get it right. My hands were shaking, all the earrings were coming out wrong," she said, fidgeting with her blouse.

"Liz..."

"A month. Six weeks, I think."

Jess sighed, pulling over in front of the diner. "You could've gone to the doctor. Get different ones."

"Jesse, you know I hate doctors."

Jess turned off the engine and got out of the car. Liz followed suit. Jess used his key to let themselves into the diner and guided her straight up the stairs to the apartment. Luke hardly used the apartment anymore, but kept it clean and well-stocked just in case.

"How's the kid?" Liz asked, taking off her sweater. She ran and stopped the tap three times before pouring herself a glass of water.

"Annie's fine. Growing like a weed."

"Tall?" Liz asked, sadness in her voice.

"Tall," Jess replied, checking the bathroom and the bedroom to see if everything was in place.

"I never see her anymore," Liz complained, sitting down at the small round table in the kitchen.

"She finishes school in about two weeks. She was going to go down and stay with you a few weeks," Jess answered.

"No, she wasn't," Liz replied. "You don't let her come visit, you always keep her away."

Jess felt his temper flare up, but he kept it at bay. "That's not true and you know it. I drive her up to Woodbury myself, once a month, to spend the weekend with you. She stays with you for weeks during summer vacation. She calls you every week, at least once. She only wears the earrings you make." Jess shook his head. "You could come visit. You could call her."

"What for? She already has a family," Liz sputtered.

"You are her family, too. I do what I can to include you, Liz. But if you don't stay on your meds, it's... she doesn't need to be dealing with this, Liz. She's young, she should be... having fun, and studying. She shouldn't be worrying about whether or not her mother is going to make it through the day." Jess frowned. He walked over to Liz and kissed her hair. "I'm tired, Liz. I'm going home to get some sleep. You should sleep too."

Liz nodded. She tapped her fingers on the table, making music without rhythm.

"Good." Jess walked over to the door and attempted to smile at his mother. "Luke will be here early in the morning, and we can all have lunch before you go back to Woodbury. Annie will want to see you."

With that, he closed the door behind him.

- - - - - - - - -

Jess was beat by the time he got to the house, but he had one more stop to make before going to bed.

The light filtered from under the door of Annie's room. He knocked softly. "Come in," Annie called.

Jess opened the door and stood in the doorway, watching as Annie finished the line she was reading. She held up her hand as a sign so that he wouldn't interrupt her thought process.

Rory did the exact same thing. It was funny, sometimes Jess felt that Annie was a carbon copy of Rory, in the way she moved or talked. People who didn't know their family history would often comment on how much Annie looked like Rory.

Annie finished and closed the book. "Ok, talk." She looked up at her brother and narrowed her eyes. "You just got home?"

"Liz called," Jess explained.

Annie sat up straight. "Is she ok?"

"She's in town. She tried to come visit, took the wrong bus, got disoriented, called me. She's at Luke's now."

Annie nodded slowly. "She using?"

Jess shook his head. "Nope. But she's off her meds."

"Again?" Annie asked. Jess nodded. "Oh, man!"

"We're having lunch with her tomorrow."

"I have school."

"Late lunch."

Annie nodded. "Ok."

Jess shrugged. "She's just... being Liz."

"I know..." Annie whispered. "She's so intense, you know? Whenever I go over to her place, it's like she wants to show me how much she loves me in those two days we have, tries to make up for all the time she wasn't there, and I feel guilty for... not loving her more, or showing her. For not wanting to be there."

Jess sat beside Annie, on the edge of her bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to find the right way to ask what was on his mind. It was something he thought of every time Liz strode into town or found her way back to them. "Sometimes I worry that we did the wrong thing, Rory and I, keeping you here. When she moved to Woodbury she wanted you to live with her, but we weren't sure she could handle it. We didn't want you to have to deal with her intensity all the time. But she is your mom and we did keep you away from her, in one way or another."

Annie threw her arms around Jess and hugged him.

It wasn't that expressions of affection were unheard of in the house, but lately he and Annie had been growing distant and Jess felt relieved when she hugged him. Annie buried her face in Jess's t-shirt and shrugged. "I like this life you guys built for us, this life we have. Liz is my mom but you and Rory are my parents. You know, permission-slip, advice, dinner and movie-night parents."

"It's not weird for you?" Jess asked. He felt, in some way, that these questions were being asked ten years too late.

Annie shrugged. "Not too weird. It's weird to have to explain the family dynamics to outsiders, but this is Stars Hollow. Once Babette and Miss Patty have things straight, everyone else gets the newsletter."

Jess nodded, relieved. "Right. Get some sleep."

Annie waved back. "You too."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jess walked into his bedroom only half expecting Rory to be asleep. The lights were off and she was lying down on the bed, but she was wide awake and he knew it the second he walked into the room. The light from the halway filtered into the room and spilled onto the bed, where she shielded her eyes from it.

"Hey," she whispered, sitting up. "How was it?"

Jess kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket, leaving it on the couch by the lamp. "Hell on wheels," he confessed, taking off his shirt and jeans.

"Come here," Rory answered, patting the empty space beside her. His space.

He crawled into bed and snaked an arm around her waist. Without any prodding, he kissed her shoulder and started telling her about the car ride. "Off her meds again," he finished.

"Dammit," Rory muttered, running her hand through Jess's hair.

"Yup."

Rory sighed softly. "Is she staying? How did Annie take it?"

"She's staying until tomorrow, Luke'll drive her back in the afternoon. She promised to go to the doctor the day after that. Annie... well, you know her."

Rory nodded in the dark. "Kid's a brick."

Jess looked at Rory, softly kissing her collarbone. "She learned from you."

Rory smiled, enjoying the feeling of Jess's weight on top of her. The warmth of his body always surprised her. "Me? A strong wind makes me cry."

"But it doesn't stop you from doing what you want, getting what you want," he answered.

She ran her hands up and down his spine. He made it so easy for her, when he went to bed half-naked. "And what do I want now?" she asked.

It amazed him, how she could completely change the tone of the evening with a word, a sentence, a question.

He didn't answer, not with words anyway. He nodded softly, just once, in understanding. His mouth travelled down her body, kissing her breasts through the fabric of his old oversized t-shirt that she wore to sleep. He pushed up the hem of the shirt, revealing her panties, her naked belly, her breasts ready, nipples hard. He pulled down her panties and explored her body with his mouth, his lips, his tongue. He didn't take off her clothes, everything had become too urgent in the past few minutes, and he needed to hear her, to feel her need, to sense her heavy words as urgent pleading.

"Oh, God," she exhaled, arching her back, closing her eyes.

"Was this what you wanted?" he asked, playfully, his breath teasing her, hot on even hotter skin. His tongued flicked out to tease her, once, twice. "What you had in mind?"

She nodded intensely. "Yes..." she hissed, burying her fingers in his hair, pulling it and mussing it every which way. "Don't stop," she pleaded, pulling him closer.

He smiled a Cheshire grin at her. "Never."

- - - - - - - - - - -

His thumbs caressed her nipples under the oversized t-shirt. She swore under her breath and straddled him, too concentrated with the matter at hand to notice that he was attempting to bring her closer, to kiss her mouth. She shook her head, and he ended up kissing her chin. He dragged his mouth down her neck and she shook her head again. Clear purpose. She pushed him down on the bed, his back on the mattress. His hands slid down her sides, to her hips.

"Rory," he said, softly, a hand moving over her belly, lower. She swore again, and Jess almost smiled. She would curse loudly when she became impatient, under her breath when she was impatient and aroused.

She guided him inside her, slowly, and her head fell forward, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the first penetration.

He always loved that moment, because she always reacted as if she didn't expect to feel what she felt. She didn't expect the sharp intake of breath, the dull ache, the sudden sensation of everything coming together, and the shudder at the exact moment when he reached the right spot inside her. She moaned. His hands moved back to her hips, down the curve of her ass. He helped her find her rhythm.

She moved up and down his length, slowly at first, finding a pace, an angle. One hand fell forward to the headboard, then to his chest. It aroused him that she was still half-dressed, the urgency of being together preempting the urge for nudity.

Her other hand she kept to herself. He watched her pull up the t-shirt, tug it up, trying to take it off. She soon got frustrated with herself and her hand instead touched his hand, then her own belly. Finally it reached her breasts. He took this as a guide of what she needed and his hand followed hers, exploring the places she skipped over.

As she started speeding up her movements, her rhythm became erratic, and she moaned his name, a request for help. She wanted – needed- release, and she couldn't come by it alone. He sat up and her legs wrapped around his waist. He thrust into her, faster, harder, and she tugged at her own shirt in an attempt to find a place for her hands, an alternative to screaming his name. It was not an empty house and she was almost subconsciously aware of it as she came, quietly but explosively, mouth on his, moans dying in her throat.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Jess pulled Rory closer, ignoring the thin sheen of sweat on him. She was still half-dressed, only the T-shirt was now crumpled and stretched where she'd pulled at it. She rested her cheek on his chest, his heartbeat steadying.

"This making-a-baby business is fun," Jess said.

Rory swatted him playfully. "It was fun before that was the purpose, too."

"That it was."

"You've been really... into me... lately," Rory said, biting her lower lip.

Jess raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm always into you."

"More than usual," Rory added, nervously.

"You were gone two months, I missed you," Jess explained. "Why? What do you think it's about?"

Rory shrugged. "I don't know..."

"Ror, I can tell you have something on your mind," he said, tilting her chin so she would look at him.

"What if I can't get pregnant?" she asked, softly. "What if it doesn't work?"

"I haven't thought about that. Why wouldn't it work?" Jess asked.

"I don't know... I'm not that young anymore," Rory said.

"You're 35," Jess pointed out. "Lorelai had Hannah way past that age."

"But I'm not like her, she slipped up once and got pregnant with me. We've been trying for-"

"Two weeks, Rory."

"And nothing. No unusual need to eat an apple. No keen urge to find myself a fruit salad."

Jess laughed softly. "You're an obsessive-compulsive overachiever and I love you, but I'm pretty sure you can't know if you're pregnant just yet. And if you aren't, we can keep trying. I like trying."

Rory felt tears stinging her eyes, but she didn't want Jess to know she was on the verge of crying. "But what if I can't get pregnant? What if I can't have kids with you?"

Jess felt the hot teardrops on his chest. He pulled her closer, to eye level. "We are already a family, Ror. You and Annie and I. I want to have kids with you, I want to have the whole experience, but if we can't... then we'll deal with it. We could try fertility stuff. We could adopt. Anyway, why do you think it'll be you that can't have a kid? Maybe I won't be able to... you know."

"Oh."

"Never did get anyone pregnant before. You know I wasn't the most careful person back in the day," Jess confessed. He kissed Rory's temple and smiled at her. "You're just having a freak out."

"So even if I can't get pregnant, you and I..." she whispered.

"Yes, of course, Ror!" Jess exclaimed. "Jeez... do you honestly think -?"

"I don't know," Rory cried. "I'm sorry, I'm just freaking out, I just..."

"You're stuck with me for good, Rory," Jess said. "I know you don't have paperwork to back it up but..."

Rory shook her head. "I don't want any paperwork. I want you. And I want to be a mom," Rory said, softly. "I know I'm not Annie's real mother but I love the relationship I have with her and I want to have the same again... from the start."

"You are Annie's mom, in more ways than Liz. And it'll happen, ok?"

Rory nodded.

"Say ok, Ror."

Rory smiled. "Ok."

"Good. Now, sleep? Because I could keep trying but I do have work tomorrow and it would be nice to actually be conscious and able to walk."

"Pig."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Jess hardly slept all night.

He kept tossing and turning, thinking about the Liz situation, and about Rory's insecurities.

Were they unfounded? What if they really couldn't get pregnant? What if it hurt them in such a way that it killed them, killed their relationship?

Before he knew it, he was kissing Rory awake. In a way, he was trying to erase her worry with his kisses, but his insistence, along with his reluctance to look into her eyes made every movement choppy, unnatural. And that only worried her more. Neither of them was in the moment, and the haze of sleep didn't lift.

It was as if they weren't even there and finally they just gave in and gave up.

It was, Jess had to recognize it, the worst sex they had ever had.

Ever.

Rory went into the shower in silence, Jess put on the coffee pot.

They avoided looking at each other, and when Rory left the bathroom, he walked in.

When he walked out of the shower, he saw a note Rory had left, saying she'd gone to the market.

Jess shrugged off the awkward feeling and got ready for work.

**TBC...**

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Let me know! Next chapter: The after-effects of bad sex...


	4. Runoutofthehouse bad

**Author's note: ** Hey, all! Sorry this took so long. I was planning on posting it sooner, but another story got in the way, and it's quite AU so I had to give it a lot of attention. Anyhow, I wanted to thank all of you for your great feedback. Also, a some of you mentioned you couldn't quite picture Annie and Seth. So there's a link up in my profile to actors who look like what I have in mind. Follow the yellow brick road! And then come back and enjoy...

**CHAPTER 4**

**Run-out-of-the-house bad**

"The worst sex we've ever had. Ever," Rory said, plopping down on Lane's couch.

Lane was trying on outfits for their next concert, but she listened intently as she zipped up her skirt.

"Really?" Lane asked, pausing with a black halter in front of the mirror. "The worst?"

Rory nodded. "It was bad. Run out of the house bad."

Lane raised an eyebrow. "What's run-out-of-the-house bad?"

"I didn't even say goodbye this morning. I just... you know... bolted," Rory explained.

"Because of bad sex," Lane finished.

Rory grabbed a handful of pretzels. "Well, yeah. That and..."

Lane dropped the halter and focused her attention on Rory. "And?"

"We had the baby talk."

"What's the big deal? I thought you'd had that talk already," Lane said, sitting next to Rory. She liked having adult conversations on teenage topics or teen-like conversations on adult topics and the only time of the day that could be done was when the twins were out of the house. It was her time.

"We had the other baby talk," Rory explained.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What other baby talk?" Luke asked. "There's only ONE baby talk. You decide to either have a kid, or not have a kid. End of baby talk." He opened another crate and started placing the pickle jars on the shelf. "By the way, I didn't need to know about the whole bad sex thing."

"You asked what the hell was wrong with me," Jess said, shrugging.

"Yeah, well, edit out the details next time."

"Next time I have bad sex?"

"JESS!"

"Fine," Jess pointed out, turning tubs of ketchup so the labels were facing out. "And there is another kind of baby talk. The what-if-we-can't-get-pregnant talk."

"Oh," Luke said, looking down.

"Yeah, oh."

"Well, why wouldn't you be able to get pregnant?" Luke asked.

"I don't know, the whole thing just jumped into Rory's head and then it got me thinking and what if we can't? What if this just ruins everything?" Jess asked.

"And you had this in your head when you decided to... have sex... this morning."

"Yes."

Luke snickered. "No wonder."

"What?"

"Well, bad sex is a part of every relationship. It happens. Specially when you're thinking about something else or you have a problem or, you know, the untimely demise of your relationship going through your mind."

"Untimely demise? Big words?"

"Shut it."

"So this has happened to you?" Jess asked.

Luke snorted. "Happens to everyone."

"Really?"

- - - - - - - - - - -

"It's just a wonder it hasn't happened to you guys before," Lane pointed out.

"You really think so?" Rory asked.

Lane nodded enthusiastically. "Hell, yeah. There's we're-fighting bad sex, there's I-still-haven't-done-my-taxes bad sex, there's did-I-take-the-pill? bad sex, there's did-I-leave-the-iron-on? bad sex, there's let's-be-quiet-so-the-kids-don't-hear bad sex, there's - "

Rory held up her hand. "Ok. I get it. Bad sex happens."

"That it does, sister," Lane replied, chomping on a pretzel.

Rory sighed. "So what do I do?"

Lane shrugged. "You either wait until you do it again to see if it was just a distraction thing..."

"Or..."

"You talk to him."

- - - - - - - - -

"Talk to her," Luke pointed out. "Otherwise you're going to be kicking yourself over it for days and I'm gonna have to hear about it for days, which I really don't want to do. Anyway, don't you have work to do? A bookstore to open or something?"

Jess shot Luke a glare. "I was stopping by to check on Liz before you got all Ward Cleaver on me."

"Yeah, well, your head is somewhere else because you walked right past her. She's busing tables," Luke said.

"Why?" Jess asked.

"She wanted to do something, I wanted her out of my hair, therefore, she's working," Luke answered.

"Right. We'll come over for lunch. You're driving her to Woodbury later?"

Luke nodded. "See you at lunch."

"Yeah." Jess started walking out but remembered something. "Hey, I heard you hired one of Dean's kids to work here."

Luke grinned. "Yeah. Floppy-haired furniture-man is all riled up about it."

"I figured you were getting a kick out of it."

"You have no idea."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Annie doodled her morning away. She doodled all through math, spanish and well into history. She even doodled during English Lit, which elicited a snort from Brian.

Lee, on the other hand, seemed worried. "What is it?" he asked.

Annie rolled her eyes. "Mom's in town, so I'm supposed to have lunch with her."

"Your Mom Mom?"

"Yup," Annie answered, looking straight ahead. Doodle, doodle. "To top it off, Jess was acting really weird this morning."

"Rory came to our house really early today," Lee pointed out.

Annie shrugged. "Maybe they got into a fight."

"Jess and Rory fight?" Brian asked, joining the conversation.

The teacher looked over at them and each resumed pretending to be paying attention. The teacher moved on to something new and Annie picked up her pen and doodled some more. "It's been known to happen. Not often, not for very long, but they do fight sometimes."

"What do you think it's about?" Lee asked.

"Beats me."

Doodle. Doodle. Bell ringing.

"Family fun time," Annie muttered, picking up her books.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Annie took her usual route to the diner, cutting through the gazebo and down the road. She noticed that Lynn Forrester was taking the exact same route. Annie took a deep breath, and with it some courage, and called out. "Hey, Lynn, you working today?"

Lynn stopped cold. She was the same age as Annie, but Annie was a year ahead and always a tad intimidating. The tattered leather jacket that had belonged to her brother did scare some people away. Lynn gave Annie a nervous smile. "Yeah. You?"

Annie quickened her pace and caught up with Lynn. "No," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I have a family lunch."

"Oh," Lynn said. "At the diner?"

Annie shrugged. "My Mom's in town."

"Rory Gilmore? I heard."

"No. Uhm..." Annie tried to find a way to explain it nicely but couldn't. "Rory isn't my Mom, you see. Jess is my brother. It's complicated."

"Right. I forgot," Lynn said. "Seth explained once."

"Seth?" Annie asked, curious. Why the hell had Seth brought it up?

"You know, my brother? I think he has a class with you," Lynn pointed out.

"Right," Annie said, trying to sound unaffected. "Well, my Mom lives in Woodbury, but she came to town for a day and Jess and Luke and I are having lunch," she explained, as they turned a corner.

"Don't you miss her? Your Mom?" Lynn asked, genuinely curious. "Woodbury's not far but you don't see her much, right?"

Annie shrugged. "Sometimes I miss her, I guess. I mean..." Annie took a deep breath. "When I say Rory isn't my mom, I mean that she isn't biologically my mother and that I don't call her mom. But she is my mom in all other ways, which are the ways that matter most."

"Wow," Lynn said. "Uhm, I don't really know what to say to that. Only ever had one mom." Lynn rolled her eyes and slapped herself over the head, stopping clear in her tracks. "Sorry. My foot is always most comfortable in my mouth."

"Don't sweat it," Annie said, waving the awkwardness away with her hand. "Come on, being fashionably late is not something Luke understands."

Lynn smiled gratefully and walked into the diner.

- - - - - - - - -

Annie was greeted in the only way Liz knew how: big, over-the-top, embarrassing-mom-hug. "Aw, sweetie, I've missed you..." she said, jumping up and down.

"Hi, Mom," Annie said softly, hugging back. "It's so good to see you."

And it was true. Annie did like to see Liz. It was oddly comforting because Liz was always predictable in her mood swings.

"Come, come, Luke's got a table all set up for us," Liz said, wrapping her arm around Annie's shoulders and dragging her along to a table on the far corner, away from the windows.

Luke smiled at Annie and poured her a cup of coffee as she approached the table. "Hey, kid, how was school?"

Annie took out a small square of paper and unfolded it, showing Luke her doodle-artwork. "For the fridge," she said, grinning.

"You're no better than when you were ten," he muttered. "Jess should be in any second."

Annie shrugged, gulping down her coffee. "He was acting really weird this morning, with his hair sticking out like in his old pictures," she pointed out.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Let's not talk about that, shall we?"

Annie nodded, looking at Luke sideways.

"So, tell me all about school," Liz said, her hand pressing into Annie's arm.

Annie smiled kindly. "I'm doing well, but classes are a little on the boring side."

"Jess used to get incredibly bored in class, didn't he, Luke?" Liz asked, grinning up at Luke.

Luke deposited two baskets of fries between them and nodded towards the door. "Speak of the devil."

Jess walked in, his stride not as confident as usual. Luke rolled his eyes and went to get sodas. Jess plopped down on the chair next to Annie. "You're wearing my jacket," he said.

Annie rolled her eyes at him. "I told you this morning I was wearing it."

"Don't remember," Jess answered, popping a fry.

"You were too busy looking angsty," Annie said.

"Was not!" Jess complained.

"You were too," Luke volunteered, setting down two burgers.

Lynn followed him with a tray of sodas. "Enjoy," she said, smiling, before walking away.

"That kid is pure Lindsay," Jess said.

"Better than pure Dean, if you ask me," Luke added.

"Who's Lindsay? Who's Dean?" Liz asked.

"No one," both Luke and Jess echoed.

Liz threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, keep me in the dark."

"Don't mind them, Mom. Tell me about the Renaissance Fair," Annie said.

Jess had to stop his funk for a minute to admire Annie's way with Liz. He'd never been able to reach Annie's level of civility or understanding with Liz. Sometimes he even doubted his love towards Liz.

"Well, the goat cart guy finally decided to get a new goat, so now he's not paying human kids to pull the cart around," Liz said. "Oh, you're wearing the earrings I gave you."

"I always wear them," Annie answered.

"You have to tell me what color dress you're wearing to the dance this end of year," Liz said.

"You know I hate dances."

"But you're going anyway?" Liz asked.

"Green. The dress is going to be emerald green, Lorelai's making it," Annie admitted, looking down at her food.

Liz prodded, laughing. "I knew it! So, who's taking you? Any cute guys?"

"Do I have to be here for this?" Luke asked.

"If I have to, you have to," Jess countered.

"Shut it, she's about to tell me about a boy," Liz shushed them.

"Sorry, Mom. No boy," Annie said, looking over to Lynn. Annie hoped against hope that Lynn wouldn't say anything about any of this to her brother. The last thing she needed was Seth Forrester's pity.

"I don't believe that. You're too pretty not to have five boys hanging around you," Liz said.

"She does have boys hanging around. The twins, Sookie's kid, Paris' kid," Luke pointed out. "Always hanging around."

"They're friends. And Josh is ten. I babysit him sometimes," Annie pointed out.

"Josh?" Liz asked.

"Paris Geller's son," Jess said. "Paris was Annie's pediatrician. They live in Hartford."

"Oh," Liz said, seemingly disappointed that she hadn't known that.

Liz started eating after that, her mood changing to something akin to sadness as she listened to the conversation turn to the town and the people in it.

- - - - - - - - -

Goodbyes were a strange thing in the Danes clan. Not one of them were any good at the whole goodbye thing, and goodbyes with Liz were specially awkward.

"I'll go into town next week and we'll go to the fair," Annie said.

"I'll have those earrings ready," Liz replied.

Luke waited by the driver's side of the car, muttering something about road conditions.

"I should go," Liz said, looking in her son's eyes.

Jess nodded. "You'll go to the doctor?" he asked. Liz nodded. "And you'll stay on your meds?"

"Yes," she said, rushing to hug Jess.

Jess wrapped his arms around his mother and sighed into her hair. "Take care, Mom. I'll drive Annie in next week, ok?"

Liz nodded. Crying, she climbed into Luke's truck.

- - - - - - - - -

Annie took a shortcut to the house. After the lunch, after everything that was going on these days, she needed some alone time.

She cut through the park and ended up at the bridge. It was Jess and Rory's place, yes, but in a way it was also her place. They didn't go as often anymore, and over the years the place had become as familiar to Annie as her own room.

Lynn had said, in passing, that Seth had mentioned her. Lying back on the wooden bridge, she wondered in what circumstance Seth had thought it worthy to mention her and why.

She couldn't get Seth out of her head and it was making her angry. She would close her eyes and he would be there, almost solid, longish dirty-blonde hair and hazel eyes.

Staring up at the tree leaves, and the shapes the clouds made as they passed, Annie let the afternoon pass her by as she pondered these developments.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Jess finished inventory, slowly double-checking the last shipping. He did the math in his head, but chanted out the numbers under his breath.

He almost didn't hear the door open over the sound of his thoughts, but the tiny bell alerted him. "Closed, come back tomorrow," he said, wondering how anyone in town was unaware of the closing time of the bookstore.

"Hey," Rory said, locking the door behind her. "It's me."

Rory could practically see Jess's spine tense. He turned to face her. "Hey."

"So," Rory started. "This morning..."

"Huh," Jess said, putting down the clipboard in his hand.

"I bolted," Rory confessed, biting her lower lip.

"I noticed," Jess added.

Silence. Thick, horrible silence.

Jess decided to be the one to bite the bullet. "This morning was..." He made a face.

"Awful," Rory completed.

"I was going to say horrible, but I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings," Jess quipped.

"Horrible fits too," she joked back.

Nervously they avoided each other's eyes. In attempting this, their gazes actually met fleetingly.

"I feel sixteen again," Rory said.

"Same here," Jess volunteered. "I'm just gonna say... what I'm thinking and then you can chew me out or whatever."

"Ok."

"I didn't sleep last night, at all, thinking about what you said. About you thinking that I'd stop... loving you... if this having a kid thing didn't work out. I thought I'd reassure you, but really, I was also trying to reassure myself, that we'd be fine, no matter what, but I can't promise that, I can't promise you that," he said, looking at his feet, at her elbow. He finally looked into her eyes. "Right this second, I know that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you even if all we ever have are cats. I mean, Morey and Babette seem to work well with the cat thing."

Rory laughed through tears. She reached out and took his hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She wanted to speak but she knew he wasn't done yet.

"But then I think, maybe it's you that will stop loving me if we can't have kids. And then there's Liz hanging around and I keep thinking one of these days Annie will take off, and... well... And then I just started kissing you and I wanted to make everything better for you, but I couldn't and I knew I couldn't... and then everything became an exercise in futility."

"Leading to the worst sex in the history of sex," Rory said, squeezing his hand.

"When you say it that way, it sounds really bad," Jess joked.

"It was my fault too," she replied.

"It was no one's fault," he countered.

Rory grabbed his other hand and intertwined her fingers with his. She stepped in closer to him, slowly. "Apparently, bad sex isn't unusual," she said, softly.

"Lorelai?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Lane," Rory admitted. "You?"

"Luke. Said something along those lines," Jess said.

"I want to have a baby with you, Jess."

Rory took one step closer to Jess, sensing the familiarity of the dynamic. Jess followed suit.

"But if it doesn't work out... there's no one I'd rather share cats with," Rory whispered.

"I think I'm allergic to cats," Jess whispered back.

"Canaries, then." Rory sighed into Jess's shirt. "Annie's a pretty good canary and I don't think you'll drive her away." Rory rolled her eyes, confused by her own poetic intentions.

"Make her fly away?" Jess volunteered.

"I love you. Fuck the metaphor," Rory said.

"I love you, too," Jess answered, slowly leaning in to kiss her.

Rory thought for a millisecond that this must be their first tentative kiss in years. Nothing with them had been tentative anymore, because they knew each other so well, but right now, they were walking on eggshells again, taking something, even if it was just a kiss, slowly. He was unsure. She was insecure.

It was, in a way, like being teenagers again.

But the thought itself was cut off by the feel of his lips on hers and then, in no time flat, the tentative part was gone and she was clinging to him for dear life. He reached for the desk lamp and shut it off, she bumped into furniture. He pulled her closer and she dragged him along, pushing him up against the stacks of books.

Clothes flew off behind the bookshelves as Rory and Jess made peace with their insecurities.

- - - - - - - - -

"_Wanderlust_," Rory read in the dim streetlight. She was naked, and she'd grabbed the closest book on the shelf. The dictionary. "_An undeniable impulse to travel._"

"You have that," Jess pointed out, taking the book from her and handing her jeans back.

Rory shrugged. "Used to."

"The impulse, it's still there," Jess said.

"Ah, but it's now deniable. What I have is a strong desire to nest. Define _nest."_

"_A structure or place made or chosen by a bird for laying eggs and sheltering its young_," Jess read, pulling on his t-shirt.

"I like how they use chosen. You choose your nest," Rory said.

Jess pulled her t-shirt out from under her and draped it over her breasts. "Get dressed. We have to get to our nest."

"Just a quick one. Look up the definition of _great_," Rory said.

Jess arched an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Wanna see if the sex we just had is used to exemplify the concept," she quipped.

Jess tossed the dictionary aside and shook his head. "Get dressed, quippy."

"Yes, sir."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Annie heard Jess and Rory walk into the house before she saw them. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "I'm starving."

"What, you can't cook for yourself?" Jess asked, dropping his book-bag on the couch.

"Who said anything about cooking?" Annie countered. "I wanted to know what you guys wanted on your pizza. My treat."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "You're treating us?"

"Yup," Annie said. "So, what'll it be?"

"Pepperoni, green peppers and olives," Rory said, grinning.

"Cheesy bread?" Annie asked.

"Do you have to ask?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "Heart attacks, that's your destiny."

"Whatever," Annie said. "I'll call. So what took you guys so long?"

Rory blushed and looked away. "Oh, just... you know... I was helping Jess out with inventory at the bookstore."

Jess didn't even answer, turning on the computer in the living room.

Annie nodded deliberately. "Right. That totally explains why your blouse is buttoned up wrong."

"Annie," Jess warned, while Rory blushed profusely.

"I'll go call Joe," Annie said, quickly flashing both Jess and Rory an innocent smile.

"Eight year, Jess, and you still manage to button up my blouse wrong every time," Rory said softly, rolling her eyes at Jess. She started redoing her buttons one by one.

Jess shrugged. "What can I say? You're cute when you're flustered."

TBC...

Hey! Hope that worked out the kinks well enough for you all. Drop by and tell me what you thought! And thanks a ton for stopping by and reading this.


	5. How the other half lives

**CHAPTER 5**

**How the other half lives**

"Hannah Banana Havana Copacabana!" Annie exclaimed, raising up Hannah Danes in her arms and into the sky. "You're getting too big to carry," she added.

"I'm a big girl, daddy says," Hannah replied.

"That she is," Lorelai replied. "She was all gung-ho about going to New York and then it's _Mommy, I don't wanna walk no more!_" She took a drink of her coffee and tossed the empty to-go cup back in the Jeep.

Both Jess's junk-heap of a car and Lorelai's Jeep were parked in the ample driveway of the elder Gilmores. Rory and Lorelai called the few minutes before walking into the dragon's lair their "getting it together in order to survive the night" time. Jess and Luke would roll their eyes about something or another, Rory and Lorelai would finish their coffee, and Annie would prance around with her cousin.

"You ready?" Rory asked her mother. Lorelai shrugged. Her hair, the shortest it had been in years, bounced when she moved her head.

"Is anyone ever really ready?" Lorelai wondered out loud.

"Hannah is. Annie is," Rory answered, muttering.

"Yeah, well, they have it easy. They're grandkids," Lorelai whispered, narrowing her eyes at the two girls.

"Hey! I'm a grandkid too," Rory complained.

"Yeah, but you're the unmarried-grandkid-living-with-a-hoodlum-raising-his-sister," Lorelai pointed out. "You're the Jerry-Springer-style-grandkid."

Rory took the final sip of her coffee. "Right," she said, tossing the cup in the car.

"Are we going to go in sometime today?" Jess asked, walking up to Rory.

"Can I ring the doorbell, daddy?" Hannah asked Luke, pulling at his flannel shirt. "Please, please, please?"

Luke grunted. "Knock yourself out."

Hannah, aided by Annie, reached up and rang the doorbell.

Off-guard, Rory, Jess, Lorelai and Luke all rushed to the doorway.

"Finally," Emily answered, holding the door wide open. "You've been standing outside making chit-chat for twenty minutes."

"Has it been that long?" Lorelai wondered out loud.

"I timed it," Emily confirmed.

"Huh," Lorelai said.

"Well, come on in, no sense in spending another twenty minutes outside. Give your coats to Lola," Emily said, leading the way into the house.

"Did she say her name was Lola?" Annie asked, leaning in to Rory.

Lorelai grinned. "I bet you anything she was a showgirl."

Jess and Luke rolled their eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Over drinks, of course, the standard questions applied.

Work, schooling, ballet lessons, and, always a favorite, marriage.

Emily, as always, had news. "Logan got married."

"Logan?" Annie asked, confused. Jess tensed.

Lorelai leaned in to fill her in. "Rory dated him in college. He proposed in a party right here. She said no."

"I thought he was already married," Luke said, obviously behind on the gossip.

Rory tightened her grip on Jess's hand, her way of saying, _Take a deep breath_.

"Divorced. Remarried. His first wife was of the Cape Cod Williamson's. Very cruel people," Emily commented.

"I hope he married someone less cruel this time around, for good," Richard replied absently, letting his paper fall to the couch beside him. "Marriage is an undervalued institution," he added, looking straight at Jess.

"Grandma, Grandpa, can we please not get into this again?" Rory asked, looking to the ground.

"Into what, dear?" Emily asked. "I was simply telling you some news about an old friend."

"Right," Rory whispered. Jess squeezed her hand back. His way of saying, _Let it go._

"I'm hungry," Hannah said, as if on cue.

Richard laughed heartily. "Well, we mustn't keep the lady waiting," he said, taking Hannah's hand and leading her into the living room.

Everyone followed except Rory, who hung back for a minute, holding Jess's hand. Jess leaned in and kissed her hair. "You alright?" he asked.

"Every time," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "I finally understand the dread Mom felt every Friday night when I was a teenager."

"Hey," Jess whispered, hooking a finger under her chin and leading her eyes to his. "They love you, and you know this. They're just... traditional minded."

"But to bring up Logan..." she started.

"A low blow. I guess he'll always be the one who proposed," Jess exhaled.

Rory shrugged, drawing him closer. "But you'll always be the one I love."

"Good to know."

Just then Annie burst in. She smiled softly at the scene. "Come on, cowards. Let's go!" she said, taking their hands and dragging them into dinner.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The car ride back to Stars Hollow was tense. Jess stole looks at Rory, who pensively stared at the road, leaning against the window. Annie had conked out in the back-seat, covered by an old blanket.

"Is it something you'd like to do, Rory?" Jess asked. "The whole getting-married thing."

Rory separated herself from the window and looked at Jess in confusion. "What?"

"You know, wedding, signing of legally-binding contract. Is it something you want?"

Rory buttoned up her jacket. "It was, when I was a kid, you know? I worked so many weddings that I used to dream about my own. But then I grew up and other things invaded my dreams. You know that."

Jess looked out to the road, concentrated. "I don't want you to miss out on something just because..."

"Jess," Rory started. "I fell in love with you, I chose to share my life with you. We're a family. I'm not missing out on anything."

"You don't wish even for a second that you had a wedding?" Jess asked, his hands gripping the steering wheel.

"We did," Rory said, grinning widely at Jess's confused look. "You were standing under a tree and I was wearing a teal bridesmaid dress. I kissed you, then I ran away to Washington. I can't believe you don't remember _our_ wedding."

"We were seventeen," Jess said, laughing.

"We married young, didn't we?" Rory replied.

Jess shook his head. "I'm just saying. If you ever feel like it's something you want to do..."

"I'll holler," Rory completed. "Taylor would love it, you know?" she added as an afterthought.

"He'd rearrange the entire town so the rooftops spell your name," Jess kidded.

"Do you remember the day Luke woke up to find a string of paper turkeys on his windows?" Rory recalled, laughing and slapping the dashboard.

In the back-seat, Annie smiled as she listened to Rory and Jess reminisce, their laughter a soft musical background for drifting back to sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Keys tossed aside on a table beside the door, meant for keys to be tossed aside.

Coats on the couch.

"They suck every ounce of energy and convert it into exhaustion," Rory muttered, plopping down on the couch.

Jess switched on the computer. "They are really really good at that," he concurred with a yawn.

"You guys are just getting old," Annie pointed out. "Look at me. I'm fine."

"You," Rory pointed directly at Annie's forehead. "You slept all the way home."

"Snored, even," Jess chimed in.

"Old, old, old," Annie said in a sing-song voice.

Rory grunted, something she'd picked up from Jess in the past eight years. "Well, since you're young and the night is young, I'm guessing you have plans."

"Well..." Annie started.

"The twins and a pint of ice cream?" Rory asked.

"Mattie and Sookie's home-made blueberry pie," Annie confessed.

"Go," Jess said, trying his best to be cool.

Annie grinned. "I'll be back before SNL!" she said.

Jess raised an eyebrow, about to protest that it was Friday, but Rory's raised eyebrow dared him to try. "She's kidding," Rory added for effect.

"I know," Jess whispered.

Rory watched Annie breeze past her, kissing goodbyes. "Bring us back some pie!" Rory reminded.

"Yes, ma'am!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Chilton?" Mattie asked, raising her eyebrows. She pushed aside her pie, worried. "Private School in Hartford Chilton?"

"Yup. I have an appointment Monday so I need you to take really good notes in English. No doodling," Annie ordered.

Mattie sighed. "You're really thinking about going to Chilton?"

Annie looked down at her dwindling slice of pie. "At first I thought exactly what you're thinking, you know? Stuck up private school..." She licked her fork. "But Rory got me some brochures and they have some really interesting classes, and the workload is heavier but that's ok, because sometimes it gets so boring..."

"I always knew you were a closet nerd," Mattie snorted.

"And if I do well at Chilton..."

"You have a better shot at whatever college you want," Mattie completed.

"Exactly," Annie said.

"Even though you're still not sure you want to go to college," Mattie tried to understand.

"Precisely."

Mattie was silent for a few minutes. "So basically it's just about not being bored for the next two years?"

Annie shrugged. "I don't know. If I actually find that I enjoy these classes, maybe it can help me figure out what to do later on, whether or not to go to college. So far, Stars Hollow High is a great spokes-school for dropping out of school."

"Spokes-school?"

"Like spokesman, but a building,"

Mattie laughed. "You are such a Gilmore."

"I know. It's contagious," Annie admitted, finishing off her pie. "Do you have any more left? I promised Rory I'd..."

"Mom already packed three slices for you guys, they're in the fridge, with heating instructions. Just remember to grab it before you go. And follow the heating instructions," Mattie warned, rolling her eyes. "You know how she gets about pie."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are those... gargoyles?" Annie asked, looking up at the building through the windshield of Jess's car.

Jess tilted his head sideways and looked up. "Looks like it."

"Wow," Annie said, exhaling loudly.

"Yeah," Jess concurred.

"Wait. Haven't you been here before?" Annie asked.

Jess shook his head. "I skipped town before Rory's graduation. Never had a reason to come here after that."

"Oh," Annie said, disappointed. "Maybe we should've brought Rory."

"She had a meeting in New York."

"We could have rescheduled," Annie suggested.

"Kid, I can handle it," Jess reassured her.

"You're wearing Chuck Taylors," she countered.

"So?"

"So, you're wearing Chuck Taylors to a school with gargoyles on the roof and you're my guardian. The gargoyles will probably swoop down as soon as we step out of the car and... take the shoes."

Jess took a deep breath and ruffled Annie's hair. "Hey. You're coming here to see if you like it. They'll be lucky to have you. And if _they_ don't like _us_ they can go fuck themselves."

"Fuck themselves," Annie repeated. "Right. Ok."

"Of course, it would probably be best if we didn't say fuck in front of the headmaster," Jess pointed out.

"Right, ok. No fucks."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Annie watched the kids milling about in plaid skirts and saddle shoes, and she felt at a loss. They had been told to wait until the Headmaster could see them, and Annie tried not to look at Jess's feet because she knew that he'd be showing the same nervous tics that she had. He would be crossing and re-crossing his feet. He'd be chewing on his fingernails. He'd be pretending to read.

So she pretended to read as well.

She read the same line, over and over, for half an hour.

Finally the secretary returned, looking at Jess's shoes with disdain.

"Headmaster Medina will see you now," the elder woman said.

"That name sounds familiar," Annie whispered as they walked to the office.

"I think Lorelai dated him," Jess said, half-joking.

"This is going to be... not good," Annie attempted.

"You're gonna wow them with your language skills," Jess quipped.

Annie groaned, stepping into the office. "Kill me now."

- - - - - - - - - -

Jess felt like he was back in high-school, sitting in the principal's office, about to get chewed out over the mystery of the disappearing baseballs.

Annie looked like she was about to throw up.

A tall, skinny man with graying sideburns walked into the room through a side entrance and tilted his head sideways. "You look just like your mother," Headmaster Medina said.

Annie tried hard not to roll her eyes. She was used to people saying things like that to her, trying to be polite. "Rory's not biologically related to me, but thanks... I guess," Annie said, shaking Mr. Medina's hand. "Annie Jameson."

"Oh. Max Medina," he answered, shaking her hand. "Sorry about that."

"No harm, no foul. So I gather you were a teacher when Rory studied here?" Annie asked.

Max Medina nodded, still trying to rack his brains as to what to say.

Jess saw the man in trouble and offered a hand. "Jess Mariano. Rory and I are Annie's guardians."

"The Jess Mariano?" Max enthused. Jess nodded. "I read your first novel a few months ago, _The Journalist_. It was unexpectedly delightful."

Jess wasn't very good with praise, especially the kind that sounded like a blurb, so he just nodded and half-smiled. Max knew enough to move on to another subject.

"So, Rory called, said Annie was interested in getting to know the school, maybe transferring?" Headmaster Medina asked. "Why are you interested in Chilton?"

Jess let Annie do the talking. "These are my class transcripts. You'll see I have a 4.0 GPA. But it's Stars Hollow High GPA. The classes are not very challenging, and the coursework is getting boring."

"So you want to come to Chilton because you're bored? No Ivy League aspirations? No dreams of becoming a doctor, a world renowned scientist?" Max asked, arching his eyebrows.

Annie looked sideways to Jess, whose eyes urged her to press on. "I'm sixteen. I've been studying at a school that doesn't really care whether I graduate or not, much less what I would like to do with the rest of my life. Frankly speaking, I don't think I can know what I want to do with my life right now. I just know that I'm driven and I'm a hard worker."

Max shook his head. "You see, Ms. Jameson, honesty doesn't always work in your favor. Having someone in this school who isn't college-bound will throw our statistical information for a loop. We are a privately funded school, as such, the percentage of our students that end up in Ivy League institutions is what keeps us afloat."

Annie smiled. "Frankly, Headmaster Medina, I'm not even sure if coming to Chilton is something I want. I haven't seen the school, haven't seen anything that it can do for me. So far, you've just made it sound like a money trap."

Jess took a deep breath. She was related to him, no doubt.

"Miss Gilmore," Mr. Medina attempted.

"Jameson," both Annie and Jess corrected.

"Yes. Sorry again," Max apologized. "Yes, we are a money trap. But if you get into this school, if you do well at Chilton, you can basically do whatever you want with your life."

"My dad didn't graduate high-school and he's still an author, he did what he wanted."

"Miss Jameson, that's hardly the point of -"

"Maybe we should get back to the matter at hand," Jess finally intervened. "Annie wants to see the school, see if it's a good fit. Then, maybe, she'll take the exams. If all this comes to a point where Annie might be accepted to Chilton, then we can talk about her plans, or lack thereof. Frankly, I'd be shocked if you guys didn't have the fanciest guidance counselor on the Eastern seaboard."

"Dr. Skoda _is_ very well-regarded in his profession," Headmaster Medina pointed out, happy to get a word in edgewise. These two didn't sugarcoat, and that was something he wasn't used to anymore.

"Well, then, there you go. I'm sure a couple of those sessions will set Annie on the Ivy-covered path or whatever."

"Right," Max said, defeated. "How about I give you the tour of the school?" he asked Annie. "Then maybe you can sit in for a few classes."

"That sounds perfect," Annie said, smiling triumphantly.

"Good, follow me," Max added.

Jess waved at Annie. "I'll be out in the car," he mouthed silently. Then, taking his book and hers, he walked past the secretary, who kept staring at his shoes.

- - - - - - - -

The school corridors seemed fit for the Boy's Choir from Vienna to sing. Cavernous, high ceilings that made every step of Mr. Medina's wing-tips resound through the school.

"So Jess is..."

"My brother."

"That would make Rory..." Max attempted to understand.

"My brother's live-in girlfriend."

"And your parents?" he tried again.

"Are Jess and Rory," Annie said, purposely being difficult. "Are you legally allowed to ask these questions?"

"I'm not trying to antagonize you, Ms. Jameson," Mr. Medine explained. "But I do need an accurate picture of your family situation in order to decide if you fit in this school."

"You can write down _stable._ My family situation is stable. I've lived with Rory and Jess for the past eight years. That's not going to change anytime soon. We have a large, supportive, extended family and a small, insane, supportive town. If what you're asking about is my biological parents, my father died when I was younger and my mother is a recovering drug-addict who sells handmade jewelry in a Renaissance Fair in Woodbury. But you could just pretend I'm adopted. I bet there are a lot of more traditional families among the Chilton students, but are they better than my family because there's marriage and child-bearing involved?" Annie took a deep breath. She had gotten winded from talking so much.

"Honorary Gilmore, right?" Mr. Medina asked, finally a light moment. He chuckled.

Annie exhaled in relief. "Yes, sir."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Annie sat in the back of the classroom. The students around her seemed way too focused on their work to pay attention to her. Or maybe they were used to kids dropping by to get a feel for the school. Though she doubted the latter. The Headmaster hadn't seemed to familiar with the concept of someone trying out Chilton for a fit. It seemed like it was more often that Chilton made the decisions.

Annie settled comfortably in the wooden chair and paid attention to the lecture. At that moment, without the pressure of taking notes, she allowed herself to follow the teacher as the information flowed. Names and dates seemed to gain force. But what amazed her the most where the students.

People raised their hands, participated. Only one girl was trying to pass a note to her friend. Everyone else was concentrated, actively involved in the class. A girl argued a point with a teacher. Argued. Quoting a source, she actually refuted the teacher's point. A boy beside her smiled at the girl, supportively.

These kids actually cared about what they were reading.

She saw no pronoun worksheets in sight, no nail polish bottles, no slam books.

None of the kids were text-messaging from their cellphones.

In fact, there were no cell-phones in sight.

The last class she witnessed that day was English Literature.

They didn't have textbooks with short stories, they had books. Bona-fide works of literature were being studied, and the literature class was working on the same historical period as the history class, so everyone seemed aware of the political ramifications of this or that work of literature.

Annie walked out of the class as soon as the bell rang and was met by Headmaster Medina.

She grinned widely. "So, when can I take this test?" she asked.

- - - - - - - - - -

Jess was halfway through his third reading of _Wuthering Heights_ when Annie walked out of the school. She knocked on the driver's side window, and Jess rolled it down. "So?" he asked, a pen between his teeth.

Annie nodded. "I like it," she said.

"You do?" Jess asked, letting the pen fall to his lap.

Annie ran excitedly to the passenger side of the car and got in. "The kids in there, they actually care about the class discussion. They participate. They... It's different. It's genuinely interesting to sit in a class."

"So you want to do this, then? Take the placement exams?" Jess looked her squarely in the eyes. "It's ok if you do."

He knew Annie always rose to the occasion of defending his life choices, but he wanted to let her know that it was alright to want more. The few times Annie slipped and called him her "Dad" always left him with mixed feelings. He felt, at times, like he'd usurped someone else's spot. But there was always pride in her voice, when there was no mocking, and it left him feeling happy to know that she saw him as some sort of role model, in a place where he'd only ever been a hoodlum.

Annie nodded slowly. "I can take the test in two weeks."

Jess started the engine and smiled. "It's uncanny," he muttered.

"What is?" Annie asked.

"How Rory always manages to be right," he added, with a laugh. "So, how do you want to celebrate?"

Annie raised her eyebrows. "I haven't even taken the test, what is there to celebrate?"

"Trust me, once Rory hears about this, there'll be celebrating. So, what'll it be?"

"Triple-chocolate milkshakes at the Soda Shoppe?" Annie suggested, biting her lower lip.

Jess sighed, pulling out of the Chilton parking lot. "How you and Rory manage to remain healthy is beyond me."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Chilton, Annie thought.

If Jess wasn't sitting right beside her, she'd start a pro-con list.

The pros were academic and self-evident.

She was surprised at herself for actually allowing the experience of the Chilton class to take precedent over a certain stock-boy from Doose's market.

Not that the certain stock-boy played a part in her life.

He shouldn't.

He didn't.

And she wasn't avoiding Doose's market. Really, she wasn't.

It was just a coincidence that she instinctively ducked when Jess drove by the market in order to park in front of the diner.

"You're acting weird," Jess commented.

"You're imagining things," Annie countered.

"You just ducked when we drove past Doose's," Jess pointed out.

"I..." Annie said, scrambling in her seat to find something. "Had dropped this pen," she finished, showing Jess the pen.

"You do the evasion thing like a true Gilmore," Jess muttered, killing the engine. It died, loudly.

Annie smiled, opening the door. "I'll take that as a compliment."

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Stop it," Annie said, looking up from her triple-fudge Sunday at Rory.

Rory, who was beaming with pride. And gloating a little, at Jess's expense.

"What? What am I doing?" Rory asked innocently.

"You're beaming," Annie said. "I haven't even taken the test yet. I could fail."

"You won't," Jess said, stealing a spoonful of Rory's ice cream.

"They could not want me," Annie argued.

"Why wouldn't they want you?" Rory asked, utterly oblivious.

"Rory..." Annie warned.

"Fine, I won't beam. I'll just glow silently with pride," she accepted finally.

"Good, that way I can finish my ice cream while you glow silently. And stop staring at me."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Lorelai eyed the three through the glass partition that divided Luke's from the Soda Shoppe. When Luke was feeling particularly generous, he left the glass partition uncovered.

"Those three are celebrating something," Lorelai pointed out.

"It's not that date yet," Luke pointed out. He remembered exactly, down to the hour, the day he found his nephew in the diner, carrying a seven-year-old girl and asking for a place to stay.

"Nah, it's something else, I can smell it. Look," she pointed out. "Jess is even eating ice cream with a spoon."

Luke ventured a glance. "He's stealing from Rory's ice cream. That hardly constitutes grounds for suspicion."

Lorelai looked disappointed. "Oh, Luke. Have you learned nothing yet?" she asked. With a sigh she slid off the booth and headed behind the counter. "I'm gonna go check if Hannah's done with her nap. Keep an eye out."

"Yeah, whatever," Luke said, deciding then and there not to keep an eye out on them.

They were laughing, they were talking. Whatever it was, it was good.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Rory plopped down on the bed next to Jess. With Annie sleeping, she was free to gloat and beam and do as she damn well pleased.

Jess looked at Rory, who was grinning like a madwoman, staring at the ceiling. "You're so full of yourself," he said, laying aside his book.

Rory gave him a passing glance. "She liked it. For all the right reasons."

"What would the wrong reasons be?" Jess asked, curious. He turned to lay on his side, his head propped up by his elbow.

Rory sighed, knowing she'd let something slip. "Promise you won't make a big deal out of this."

"You know I don't do blind promises, Ror," he warned, resting his hand on Rory's belly.

"Right. Fine. Annie came home upset the other day. She didn't want to talk but she just blurted out that she wanted to go to Chilton. She didn't really explain, but she did mention something about being disappointed by someone or something."

Jess groaned. "Oh, boy."

Rory looked at Jess intensely. "I can see the gears turning, tell me what you're thinking."

"She ducked when we passed by Doose's today."

"She ducked?"

"Ducked. Like you used to do. Not gracefully, certainly not subtly. Plain, out-and-out ducked."

"I was graceful and subtle," Rory complained.

"You used to knock over chairs when you stared at me subtly."

"Whatever. So your hypothesis is..."

"I think she likes that Forrester kid," Jess said, his insides gnawing. "Has she said anything?"

Rory sighed. "She doesn't say and I don't press. She'll come to me if she needs to talk, sooner or later. And you shouldn't make a fuss about anything unless you want to push her away. You know how she gets."

"Impossibly quiet and stubborn," Jess offered.

"Kind of like this man I live with," Rory pointed out. "She knows we're here if she needs us and she'll come to us when she does." Jess didn't seem fully convinced by this but Rory placed a hand on his waist and tugged at his t-shirt. "Just take deep breaths and don't kill a Forrester, ok?"

Jess nodded. His fingers circled her belly button and he did as she instructed. He took deep breaths. Rory looked down to his fingers, then back up to Jess's eyes. He was hypnotized and she could tell what he was thinking. "You think we're getting there?" she asked.

"We sure as hell are trying," Jess joked.

Rory punched him playfully. Then it struck her. "Oh, drat!"

"Drat?" Jess questioned, mocking her.

"We haven't told Annie!" she said, slapping Jess's arm.

"Ow, told Annie what?"

"That we're trying. You know, that we're trying to get pregnant."

"I don't think she wants to know about us having sex, Ror," Jess said.

Rory opened her mouth in disbelief but closed it again. "Are you purposefully being thick, Jess?"

"We haven't told anyone else. I haven't told Luke directly and you haven't told Lorelai, and you mentioned it to Lane in passing."

"Yes, but... Annie, you, me: we are a family. And an extra member is a big change in that family structure. I think she should know."

"Ok. We'll just... tell her tomorrow or something."

"No," Rory said, rising from bed and pulling on her bunny slippers. "She should know now."

"Now?" Jess asked, sitting up. One minute he was caressing Rory's belly, the next he was being bossed around. "As in, right now?"

"Yes," Rory answered, opening the bedroom door and marching across the living room to Annie's room. Jess groaned and followed her.

Rory composed herself and knocked softly on Annie's bedroom door.

"Come in," Annie's sleepy voice replied.

Rory pushed the door open and leaned against the frame. Jess caught up with her, just in time. "We have something we wanna tell you, kid," Rory started.

Annie sat up. Two parental figures in her room almost at midnight? Something was going on. "What's up?" she asked, tense.

Rory looked to Jess for answers but he raised his arms. "We want to... we want to have a baby," Rory finally said.

Annie's face screwed up in confusion. "That's it?"

Jess snaked his arm around Rory, who was feeling more than a little vulnerable. "Well, it's kind of a big deal," Rory attempted.

Annie shook her head, trying to get her ideas in order. "Well, yeah, of course it's a big deal, what I mean is... well, the two of you, at midnight, saying there was something you wanted to tell me? I had at least three bad made-for-tv-movie scenarios going. This is my relief face. Now gimme a minute to process this." Annie looked from Jess to Rory, then back to Jess. "You guys want this? For real?" she asked.

Rory looked up at Jess and bit her lower lip. Nodded.

Annie sat silently for a few minutes. Both Jess and Rory held their breaths, waiting. Would she feel hurt? Would she be happy?

Finally Annie looked up. Slowly, a wide grin spread across her face.

She jumped up and down excitedly, bouncing around the room. She then proceeded to hug Rory and get her jumping up and down too. "I always wanted a brother/nephew or sister/niece!"

Jess rolled his eyes. "Sure, why not complicate the whole family-relations-thing some more," he said.

"Oh, shut up and squeal for glee!" Annie said. Rory laughed through happy tears.

"Stop it with the jumping up and down. We're not pregnant yet," Jess said.

"We might be," Rory pointed out.

"Then stop before you make the baby dizzy," Jess reasoned.

Rory wrapped her arms around Jess. Together they watched Annie jump up and down, chanting, "I'm gonna be a sister, I'm gonna be an aunt, I'm gonna be a sister, I'm gonna be an aunt."

"Let's just say _sister_, kiddo, can we?" Rory asked, smiling.

Annie rolled her eyes. "Fine. Spoil my _Big Love_ reruns-fun moment."

"Don't you feel all Bill Paxton-y, Jess?" Rory asked, mocking him.

Annie laughed and moved in to hug both Rory and Jess, squeezing them tight.

"Wait," Jess asked. "Is that one of those TV references I don't get?"

Annie and Rory laughed into the hug.

- - - - - - - - -

Back in their room, Rory couldn't keep a smile off her face. "She looked happy, didn't she?" she asked.

Jess nodded, keeping his eyes on his book. His glasses always travelled a ways down his nose before he could be bothered to push them back up.

Rory elbowed him. "You knew, didn't you? That she was going to be ok with this?"

Jess set his book aside. Shrugged. "We talked about it once. More like, she asked me. When she was about ten or eleven, I guess. She asked what would happen to her once we had kids of our own. I think it was around the time Lorelai got pregnant."

"Oh," Rory said. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her she'd get a little brother or sister, and that she'd have to take care of him or her, like I'd taken care of her, like Brian and Lee took care of each other. Human Brian and Lee. The fish ones were already dead by then," Jess explained.

Rory grinned. She leaned in and pulled Jess closer by tugging at his shirt. "You are a great brother/dad," she whispered. She pushed his glasses back up his nose and kissed his mouth softly. "And you are going to be a great just-dad."

Jess looked worried. "Sometimes, I don't know."

"Why is that?" Rory asked, scooting over so she would be sitting closer to him, so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "I mean, with Annie..."

"With Annie there was no choice. She was in a place I had to get her out of. There were no ifs, no maybes. I was never faced with a choice. I was all she had."

"And you think that with the baby..." Rory started, slowly.

"I'm not going to run, Ror. I'm not. But I don't have a great track record of smart decision making."

Rory shook her head, almost laughing. "Maybe... maybe it's true, that taking on Annie wasn't a choice, that it was a necessity... But everything that happened after you took her out of your mother's apartment, every decision after that, it was all you. You chose to bring her here, to Stars Hollow, despite your hatred of the place, because you knew it would be good for her. You accepted my help, the town's help, against every bone in your body that told you to go it alone. You stayed, in spite of your very strong desire to flee," she pointed out. "We are a family because of every decision you made."

"Rory..." Jess started, but Rory placed her index finger against her lips to shush him.

"Do you want this?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Jess nodded. "Are you scared?" she asked. He nodded again.

"You?" he asked.

She nodded too.

Jess exhaled loudly. "Do you really think I'll -?"

Rory nodded immediately. "You'll be perfect."

TBC...

Author's note: Ok, this was quite a bit fluffier than I expected, next one should have more conflict in it. And if I was filming this, the first shot of Jess and Annie looking at Chilton through the windshield would be an exact copy of the Lorelai and Rory shot. It's fun to dream, no? Thanks for the wonderful reviews you guys have given me, and please, let me know how you like it. Also, for those of you who haven't, I hope you check out _We are the subsect. _Although I love Annie and Co., that really is my favorite story to be working on, and I always love to hear from all of you. Thanks again for stopping by!


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